The Cornerian Exchange Program
by NamelessGrunt
Summary: To encourage relations between Lylatians and Humanity, a human teenager is sent to attend high school on Corneria. However, war is brewing in the Lylat System, and Logan Jones seems to be a lot more familiar with combat than he wants to admit. How will a teenager struggling with his past fit in amongst the diverse menagerie? (Cover ref. JECbrush)
1. Reveille

**Author's Note**: Regards to several authors who have trail-blazed the category and human/starfox/halo theme, namely Sanitarium, Feuerstoss, Vantage77 and Hookemhorns12. Shout out to the "G-Wing" series that has been floating around for ages, "Halo: First Contact" which has been a more recent ODST feature and the "Helljumper: Feet First into Lylat" fic. Special thanks and nod to Sanitarium's number one ranked "Star Fox: Exchange Student" story.

* * *

**Reveille**

* * *

_"Oh, death was never an enemy of ours!_

_We laughed, knowing better men would come, and greater wars:_

_When each proud fighter brags_

_He wars on death, for lives: not men, for flags." _

_-The Next War_

* * *

**0430 Hours, August 17, 2554 (Military Calender) / Slipspace unknown coordinates near Lylat Star System**

"Wake up little bro."

His brother's voice was distinct over the sound of the Cryotube cycling green. Vision blurred and stomach twisting furiously, he refused to act like any other civvie and give in to vomiting the inhalant.

He pulled himself from the form-fitting gel bed and hunched over the nearby bench, sightlessly pawing for a set of clothes. There was a rustle of fabric and a neatly folded set was dropped onto his searching hands.

"It's still early, but I'd rather give you some more time to get squared away before landing."

He frowned, wishing for the umpteenth-time his older sibling would quit treating him with kid gloves.

"Have we come out of slipspace yet?" His voice cracked after being dormant in the deep freeze, and he didn't even want to think about the taste in his mouth following that bronchial surfactant.

"No. Timing's 0515 for arrival, you're taking one of their birds planet-side."

The look on his face prompted a chuckle from his brother.

"Relax, it's probably a smoother ride than any of ours."

"Like you'd know shit about smooth rides ground-side..." he quipped in response.

"Ain't that the truth. Here."

Logan Jones sighed and ran a hand through his short brown hair, catching the towel that was thrown at him, and rubbing his face free of cryogenic applicant.

He was an unremarkable teenager, not particularly tall or short, with an angular jawline and hard grey eyes. There was a slight fatigue in the way he moved, and a note of sadness in the crease of his brow. The provided black tee shirt and denim jeans were wet in spots where the coolant was still drying, so he busied himself tugging on socks and boots.

The man next to him was only a few years older, but wore them heavily. The resemblance was in the facial structure, although his hair was just barely within the regulation 3 inches as opposed to his sibling's more relaxed cut. A stocky build with thick arms whipped in pale scars, dressed in Black BDUs already bloused at the calf.

"C'mon, lets get some chow and I'll help you square away your kit."

"Sure Adrian."

The siblings left the Cryo room, boots thumping in rhythm as they walked along the ship's deck. The corridors were eerily empty, although with the current skeleton crew of a ship that normally held at least a company's worth.

Logan glanced out of a porthole window, the strange lightshow of FTL speeding by enough to twist his stomach one more time.

The mess hall was populated by a few early risers and night crew compliment at such an hour. The brothers walked on to a terminal where they made a brief selection on a touch screen to receive a hot meal from the kitchen unit.

"Goddamn these eggs are bad," Groused Adrian as he loaded up his tray with the re-hydrated yellow muck. Logan elected to just have beans and toast.

Seated apart from the other scant few, the siblings talked quietly over the simple meal.

"Nervous?"

Logan swallowed a bite and shrugged.

"I guess so. Not the worst I've had but still, you know...it's weird."

His brother Adrian fiddled with some unappetizing egg, "I don't expect you to take it without a hitch. I mean, it _is_ far out there alright. Seems like just yesterday we wouldn't have dreamed of having anything to do with aliens."

"One more time," Logan said rubbing his eyes again, "Just so I don't forget anything."

"Right. About a year after the War, we made contact with _another _alien race, this time peaceful. HIGHCOM gave the go-ahead and we whittle through some diplomatic talks. Some medical researchers swapped, diplomats back and forth, and now you're on the line as a civvie student, doing an exchange program at one of their secondary schools."

Logan breathed deeply, still trying to quell his fluttering nerves. It was an unwelcome feeling, but nowhere near the terror that he had lived through before. It still embarrassed him that he could be susceptible to something so...ordinary as first-day jitters.

"Now for all intents and purposes you're going through school down there same as anyone else, prove we're able to live in peace and all that, and you'll be staying with a host family. No name yet but I'm guessing that's just their admin being slow."

The beans were starting to taste like ashes, but Logan refused to act like a scared kid on his first day of school, especially in front of his older brother.

"I'm stationed here running some joint exercises with their defense forces, you've got my contact info and you can always call me on the E-Band."

Logan chucked dryly, "Any chance you wanna swap places?"

"Hell no, I went through highschool once and that was enough for me. Besides, mine was a backwater academy where I got jacked up all the way into enlistment, at least you'll get to see some real girls."

He stared at his brother with exasperation, "They're _aliens_ bro; sharp teeth? Claws?"

"Makes it more interesting."

"Ugh."

Ignoring the smirk, Logan wiped his tray and got up along with his older sibling. They filed out of the Mess and followed the indicators on the bulkheads to the crew quarters, where his personal effects were laid out on a cot.

"You pulled these out?" He asked Adrian.

"Yeah, I swung by earlier."

The pair of them quickly began stowing articles of clothing in two olive duffle bags with familiar efficiency. A used Marine daypack was filled with a small portable computer, Data pads and a discreet TACPAD that had been courteously lent by ONI(which was suspicious just by association).

"Hey."

Logan turned at the note of concern in his brother's voice, to see him surreptitiously place an M6C Magnum into the back of his daypack.

"What the he-"

"Don't. I'm not letting you walk into the unknown without a little insurance. We're being screened on our end but you get to slip past without any contraband check. Just don't let anyone see it unless it's an emergency."

"You could get a lot of shit for this Adrian."

"Then they can charge me."

Logan relaxed, and nodded to his brother.

"Thanks."

Five more magazines followed, and then Adrian slipped a sweater overtop before closing the pack.

"Ten to, let's get moving."

Logan slipped on an old Longsword Pilot's leather jacket, the patches depicting Knife Squadron, having belonged to a friend of his brother's before he was killed in action. The jacket was a gift from when he had turned 10, only now did it finally fit him properly.

He walked in silence with Adrian, falling into step alongside the taller man. He was reminded of all those times they had been apart while his brother served, and the vulnerable part inside him was bitter that he'd be separated from all that was left of his family once again.

Seemingly picking up on the feeling, Adrian looked over and nudged his shoulder. Logan shook his head and walked on, steeling himself.

_Exiting Slipspace in 5...4..._

There was a subtle lurch as the Frigate pulled into real-time space once more, the brothers ignored it and dropped their gear by one of the benches as they entered the starboard hangar bay, were they would rendezvous with the alien delegation transporting Logan to the planet.

"Now then," Adrian said quietly, "I don't need to remind you to watch yourself. We still don't know a whole lot about the political situation down there, but FLEETCOM has been buzzing and there's more going on than we're being told."

"I'm not being roped into some ONI gongshow, am I?" Logan asked with a frown.

The elder sibling stared at him pointedly, "There's a reason they picked you _and_ me for this, along with the rest of my section on standby. _Joint Training_ doesn't cut it, for going to the trouble of specifically assigning helljumpers..."

The pair sat quietly then, as warning lights blared and the hangar beyond the blast doors depressurized in advance of the approaching shuttle.

Logan swallowed nervously, and Adrian patted him on the back to reassure him one last time.

"You're going to be fine."

He nodded, and stood up to heft his bags as a white alien craft pulled into view, settling down before the chamber re-pressurized, and the blast doors opened between them.

Logan composed himself, and stepped forward to meet his liaison.

The shuttle didn't look anything like a Pelican. It was an angular sort of craft with folding wings, and extended landing struts that framed a hatch just under the nose of the cockpit which had opened with the hiss of hydraulics.

His breath caught for a moment, as he witnessed the aliens in person.

They were like bipedal animals, dressed somewhat like humans but with the glaring difference in fur, tails and muzzles. He'd seen pictures of course, but actually _seeing_ the exotic figures struck a chord in him that was uncomfortably close to the War. The majority were canines, although there was also some sort of hawk in the back and a squat toad in a labcoat as well. The bizarre sight of animal heads and limbs mixed with what looked like human torsos almost prompted Logan to stare, though he restrained himself from being rude.

Logan squelched the tension in his gut and stepped forward to meet them, his brother followed close. He recognized the decorated figure in red leading the pack from the briefings, and stood up straight as he addressed him.

"General Pepper sir, Logan Jones, I'm the student sent for the exchange program."

He was an old bloodhound by the looks of it, and the eerily human eyes peered out at Logan from under the brim of his cap, which was nodded once in an approving gesture. The Lylat equivalent of campaign ribbons and medals adorned his chest, and the teenager was acutely aware of his every move in the presence of such high ranking brass.

"Of course, welcome to the Lylat System. I'm sure you have many questions, but I assure you one of my aids will be able to assist."

"Yes sir."

The grizzled officer turned to examine the taller male standing next to him, Adrian having settled into parade rest staring at a point just above the canine's head.

"I understand you're one of the servicemen taking part in the Joint Training initiative?"

"Yes sir," The response was tighter than that of his brother, as the General looked over the unusual persons before him.

"Our staff are looking forward to the opportunity. I'd like to further assure you that if you should need to contact your kin at any time you are welcome to do so."

"Thank you sir."

Satisfied, the bloodhound signaled his guards, who exchanged protocols with the human technicians standing by in preparation for launch.

Just before hitching up his bags to enter the shuttle, Logan looked over to his brother, who gave him a pointed look and a slow nod; Unspoken assurance between the two. The older sibling turned smartly and marched off to the blast doors at the edge of the hangar.

Resolute, Logan boarded the shuttle, ignoring the trill of unease as he was made painfully aware he was surrounded by non-humans. He settled his duffles at his feet as he took a seat inside the rear section of the shuttle's interior while the General and his bodyguards split between the front and the back.

Jones found himself seated across from the squat toad from earlier, who piped up now that he finally had a chance to speak to the human.

"You must be nervous coming all this way by yourself."

The human shrugged and feigned indifference, "I've been to other planets before, I don't really get the jitters anymore."

The toad smiled far too widely and nodded.

"Yes yes, excellent. My name's Dr. Beltino Toad, I'm one of the head researchers that will be working together with some of your people's specialists."

"Really now? You must be fairly important then."

"Ah well now, eh heh..."

Evidently the toad did not get praised often.

One of the guards clad in green armor barked a mild laugh at the scene, turning to the teenager with an easy smile.

"Still can't really believe you're just sitting here making small talk. A real live _alien._ Heck, you're the same age as my son."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, he's starting his second year at CDSS, you'll probably see him down there."

"I'll keep an eye out Mr..." Logan glanced at the Dog's nametag, and his neural implant substituted the translation in a blink, "Grey, is it?"

"That's right," The grin on the canine's face was so genuine for a moment Jones wanted to pet him. He resisted, assuming the action probably meant something very different in their culture.

As the short trip went by, the teenager chat back and forth with the toad and the bulldog(as the breed was, evidently) and they grilled him mercilessly about life back in the Sol System. Jones told them about how he had grown up on Tribute, and later moved to Earth. He was surprised to find out how many parallels their cultures shared with one another, many of the cultural norms echoing the 1990's of old Earth.

"Do you plan on ever going back to your home on Tribute?" Dr. Beltino asked innocently enough.

There was a subtle twitch in Logan's eye, and after a pause he responded awkwardly, "Ah, no. I don't think I will be any time soon."

While Dr. Toad continued chatting away oblivious, the bulldog guard frowned almost imperceptibly, having picked up on the teenager's unease. He made no further mention of it, however.

"Ah, here we are! We're breaking through the atmosphere."

Logan glanced out one of the small windows of the craft, and for a moment found himself speechless once again.

The planet was blue, so very blue and teeming with life. Lights criss-crossed the dark side of the planet, and as the shuttle descended into the rising morning on one of the continents, the teen could make out the teeming shipyards and dry-docks scattered across the planet's orbit.

"Wow...it sure is beautiful..."

The bulldog swelled with pride for his homeworld, and reached forward to pat the boy comfortingly on the shoulder as he looked out the window.

"Welcome to Corneria."


	2. Oh, so that's how it is

**AN: **Second chapter in the series. Thanks to those who have shown interest in the story thus far. While I am trying to write a unique take on the 'human student' trope, I also try to cite all appropriate authors who have contributed to this category with similar fiction, as such in the AN of chapter one. If there are any inconsistencies please bring them to my attention and I will update the addendum.

* * *

**Oh, so that's how it is**

* * *

_"We make our own luck, but I'll always be there when you need me."_

_-Unnamed Soldier, redacted transcript_

* * *

**0750 Hours, Early Fall 4th, 1994 (Local Time) / Corneria City, *In Transit***

Logan fiddled with the strap on his compact TACPAD for the umpteenth time, wishing he could just leave the damn thing off. Adrian had been insistent though, it was the easiest way for him to link up with the E-Band, if anything went wrong.

He was sitting in one of the MP hovercrafts, en route to his new host family where he'd be staying for the foreseeable future. Evidently the Cornerians didn't do wheels anymore. There was a brief medical checkup when he made landfall, and then he was free to go after being lectured again on the proper channels to go through if there was some sort of emergency or incident.

The bulldog from the shuttle, Sgt. Grey, was riding shotgun with the silent Avian driving them through the city. He seemed to be making an effort to put Logan at ease.

"You're lucky you had a chance to come here when you did, just a couple weeks ago it was solid rain for days. Yeesh, I didn't even want to _look_ out any windows."

"The city's really something alright..."

Corneria City was a sprawling metropolis of pristine white iron and glass. Whereas human cities favored the drab concrete and gunmetal grey, the Lylat equivalent was apparently much more spectacular. The architecture was recognizably skyscrapers for the most part, while a central government building in the distance looked like a giant white pyramid emblazoned with the blue planet and wreath logo of the Cornerian Defence Force. Neon blue lighting scrolled across some subsections, advertisements that were too brief to read from the cab.

Sgt Grey smiled again disarmingly with that canine muzzle of his, "Corneria's the unofficial center of the Lylat System. While we have treaties with other planets and function under parliamentary governing, the foremost scientific research institutes are here."

Logan glanced at a passing family of coyotes, the son swinging between his parents on the sidewalk, "So individual planets have their own government, while representatives form up a system-wide parliamentary council?"

"That's right, the CDF acts as the default peacekeeping force, while individual planets also have their own garrisons. Mercenaries take up the slack when dealing with pirates operating outside any jurisdictions."

"Mercenaries, really?"

Sgt Grey nodded, "Oh yeah, it's a lucrative business. There's plenty of space to cover and no shortage of smugglers or pirates to hunt down. A good buddy of mine actually made it pretty big as a freelancer."

"We're here."

Just on the outskirts of the city proper there were areas sequestered into suburban neighborhoods. Streets peeled off into orderly rows of houses, many looking not too different from the homes he'd seen back on Tribute.

Logan's eye twitched imperceptibly.

Healthy green grass sprawled across lawns decorating the front yards of the domiciles. Trees were planted sporadically, a testament to the city's planners who had arranged everything to look so picturesque.

There were some children playing on what looked like hover boards down the street. Logan smiled hearing the carefree shouting, and turned over to thank Sgt Grey for the escort as they pulled in to his destination.

He stepped out, and was immediately aware of how _fresh_ the air here was. Living starside for a while had acclimated him to the recycled atmosphere of space life, but nothing could really replace a pristine planet's ecosystem.

He hefted his two duffels and the daypack, peering up at his host family's house. It was a two-storey deal, with cream panelling on the sides and carefully placed windows alongside for a lovely view of the streets outside. The roof was shingled with slate grey tiles, and a neatly maintained section of flowers and shrub hugged the bottom edge of the house. If he could describe it in a word, Jones would call it "cozy."

"Go on ahead kid, best of luck in school," Sgt Grey shook hands with him and returned to the cab, which pulled out smoothly and drove back the way it came. Acutely aware of the neighborhood's eyes that must be upon him, Logan ran a hand through his hair sighing, and walked up to the front door.

He pressed a button alongside the frame, and dimly heard a chime ring inside. There was a bustle of movement, and the door opened, scattering his thoughts for the moment.

A female Calico Cat was standing in the doorway, just slightly taller than he was. Her fur was a mishmash patchwork of brilliant white, orange and black. It was still taking some getting used to seeing these Cornerians walking upright and wearing what looked like human clothing, but the cat wore a pair of jeans that hugged her hips snugly and a thin sweater of some lavender shade. A wide smile crossed her maw and her ears twitched as she clapped her hands together upon seeing him with those bright golden eyes.

"Oh you must be Logan! Come on in, I hope the ride here wasn't too stuffy."

She had a warm voice, and the human found himself smiling in spite of his apprehension.

"Not at all ma'am. Logan Jones, it's a pleasure to meet you."

They shook hands and the feline led him inside chattering excitedly, "You're such a polite young thing, I'm Catherine Lynx. My husband's home right now too, we weren't sure if either of us would be at work when you came in but it's lucky we caught you!"

The interior of the Lynx household was a stark difference to the utilitarian setups he'd been shuffled around to in the past few years. What looked like walnut wood flooring was covered by rug in some places, furniture dotting the entryway along with framed photos on the wall depicting the family. Logan paused to untie his boots and stow them with the other footwear in a small alcove next to the door. He followed Catherine into the living room, taking care not to knock over anything with his duffel bags.

"Honey! Kids! The human boy's here!"

Jones dropped his pack to the carpet, looking up as a male Lynx came in from the kitchen. He was drying his hands off on a dishcloth and smiling, although the vivid black markings of his species across his face and tall ears really leant 'predator' vibes to his calm appearance. The man had a blue collared shirt on with rolled up sleeves, and some slim black glasses perched on his muzzle.

"How're ya doing kiddo, I'm Kyle Lynx, and you've already met my beautiful wife I see."

"Doing just fine Mr. Lynx, she was nice enough to show me in."

There was a tug on his pant leg, and Logan turned to find a very small, fuzzy ball of kitten staring up at him.

"Are you Mister Alien?"

Logan broke into a grin at the absurdity of being an _alien_, and knelt down to nod seriously at the little thing.

"That would be me. My name's Logan, what's yours?"

The kitten swayed in place, looking up at him coyly.

"Abby. Is it true humans eat kids?"

Logan cocked an eyebrow and looked up at her parents with a knowing grin.

"Oh no, we only eat bad kids who stay up past their bedtime."

Catherine and Kyle chuckled, evidently glad to see the newcomer was good with kids. The human could only assume what a chance it was taking an unknown into your home, even if you'd volunteered for the opportunity.

There was a thumping from the hallway stairwell, and Jones rose up to look at the last member of the Lynx household.

She was just a smidgen shorter than he was, but her species ears were exceptionally tall, adding to the indifferent look on her face. Like her father the black markings were very visible, and the ring piercing her right ear added to her 'rebel' vibe. She was wearing a torn, sleeveless beige vest and a salmon-colored tee, with ripped green pants that looked tight to walk in.

"Hey."

Jones took note of the fitness displayed in her crossed arms, likely practicing martial arts by the look of her knuckles, and made a note not to piss her off.

"Hey. I'm Logan Jones, thanks for giving me a place to stay for the next little while."

The girl tilted her head at him, and after a moment looking him over shrugged.

"Well you seem alright, and Abby likes you so you can't be all bad."

She gave the barest smile before placing her hands on her hips.

"Miyu Lynx, nice to meetchya."

Logan held her stare and smiled back.

Catherine picked up the little tyke and hefted her on a hip, "Since you've met everyone how about we sit down to breakfast? It's Kyle's turn to cook today so you're in for a treat."

The father, Kyle, rubbed those odd-looking alien paws together and bustled the family to the table, mentioning something to his wife about the eggs being 'well done,' to which she jabbed him in the arm with a smile. It was the comforting sort of domestic scene that Logan hadn't been privy to in a long while.

Logan left his bags stacked neatly beside a couch, and followed the family to the kitchen, where plates were set out around a cramped table. He pulled up his own chair last while Mr. Lynx brought a skillet full of eggs and some sort of meat strips, but not quite bacon.

Mr. Lynx gestured for him to sit down, and not quite knowing what else to do with himself the teenager took a seat. Mrs. Lynx must have picked up on his unease, so she took that moment to break into conversation.

"So, we've all been excited to hear about you, it must be hard coming all the way to another system by yourself," Catherine busied herself cutting Abby's eggs and meat into smaller bites.

"I'm used to moving around, and my older brother's stationed on the orbital base."

"That's convenient, is he a soldier, then?" Mr. Lynx asked while taking a seat himself.

"Yes sir he is."

"Ah, none of that sir nonsense, you can just call me Mr. Lynx." The feline waved off the moniker in embarrassment.

Logan shrugged, "Old habits, I've been stuck with the corps longer than I care to remember."

"So what's your story?"

Miyu twirled her fork lazily, still looking the human over, "Just decided to pack up one day and leave your galaxy?"

Logan shook his head.

"My brother was elected to head the joint training initiative between Earth and Corneria, and since I was a direct relative of his who's age fit the bill, they volunteered me for the whole cultural exchange."

"Volunteered?"

"Volun_told_ more like. Anyway I don't mind it."

Catherine chipped in once more, "What kind of place is Earth? The news featured some of the information the diplomats were throwing around, but we still don't know very much..."

"It's a lot like Corneria, but not quite as pretty," Logan admit with a grin, "We have an interplanetary government called the United Nations Space Command, which acts sort of like your own CDF. I grew up on a planet called Tribute, and later moved to Earth."

"Have you thought of ever going back home to Tribute?"

_Twitch_

"No, not really."

Miyu chewed her eggs thoughtfully while she observed Logan from the side.

"Y'know, are most humans this awkward or are you just used to not talking to people in space?"

"_Miyu!_" her mother was scandalized.

"What?"

The human chuckled and waved off the issue, "No, she's right. It's not exactly normal spending so much time on starships with only servicemen for company. To be honest I feel a little out of it trying to talk to normal people again."

Logan fiddled with his fork and finished off the breakfast he was served, unwilling to admit he'd ate before he came out of courtesy. They exchanged small talk, mainly seeing how Earth norms compared with Cornerian.

Fairly soon their plates were bare, and Logan made sure to compliment Mr. Lynx for his cooking, resulting in another bashful denial from the bespectacled feline.

They wrapped up breakfast, and Catherine excused herself as she bundled up Abby to take her to a clinic later for a checkup.

"Miyu, could you show Logan to his room?" she asked while slipping on the Cornerian equivalent of heeled shoes, oddly shaped to accommodate the animal-like footpaws.

"Sure mom."

"Thank you dear, and Logan? It was very nice to meet you, please feel welcome in our home anytime."

The human teen thanked the feline mother as she left, rising to help Mr. Lynx square away the plates. He picked up his bags from the living room and followed Miyu up the stairs, her tail curling lazily behind her as she led him.

"This one's yours, right next to mine."

Jones peered in, seeing what must have previously been some other room repurposed with a bed for him.

"Cozy."

The girl was watching him with arms crossed again, and Logan wasn't sure what to make of her attitude.

"Something wrong?"

She tilted her head at his question, and regarded him with those reflective feline eyes that put him just slightly on edge.

"Let me keep one thing straight with you," she said lowly enough not to carry over downstairs, "I don't know you yet, but you try anything funny with me and _I'll make you regret it._"

There was a quiet _snikt_ and the claws on her left hand extended threateningly, as she stared the human.

Logan stared back at her for a moment, and let his shoulders relax from the tense position he had been caught in. Seemed like women could be the same no matter where you go.

"Understood," he said flatly.

"Good boy."

The lynx patted him on the cheek in a condescending way and left with a smirk and a bounce in her tail.

Logan sighed, gathering up his bags and dumping them on the floor in his new room. He tugged open the zippers and began folding his clothes into the simple dresser next to his bed.

"What have I gotten myself into?"


	3. First Step

**AN:** Chapter 2 has been slightly updated as per recommendation from readers.

* * *

**First Step**

* * *

_"I'll kill a man in a fair fight, or if I think he'll start a fight, or he bothers me, or if there's a woman..._

_or I'm gettin' paid. Mostly just when I'm gettin' paid." _

_-Unidentified Marine Corps Serviceman_

* * *

It was still early.

Logan busied himself folding the rest of his clothes into the dresser. Lacking a tail, he doubted most pants on the planet would carry anything less drafty for someone like him.

He opened up the marine daypack and took out the portable computer he had packed. Like the TACPAD, it was able to network with the local human Battlenet, so he would be able to reach Adrian in orbit. It wasn't equipped to patch into the ODST TACCOM, so he'd have to either send messages normally to the online mailbox or access the E-Band if it was a crisis. After booting up the console he checked to see if it was working properly and then returned it to shutdown.

The Datapads were encyclopedic reference for most of the relevant subjects he might be taking in school from back home. While he'd need to get his hands on the appropriate class materials, being able to look up science, history or literature files from Earth might come in handy.

Satisfied the room was squared away, Logan closed the door behind him and came back downstairs, finding Mr. Lynx in the kitchen washing the last of the dishes.

"Can I help you kiddo?" The feline asked good naturedly.

"Do you have time to talk?"

"Sure thing," The older man wiped up his hands and shut off the faucet, "What's on your mind?"

Logan shifted on his feet and crossed his arms as he thought about the issue he'd been meaning to bring up.

"I know it's not easy inviting a complete stranger into your home, so I wanted to say... Thanks for being willing to put up with me."

The lynx blinked, "Well, to be honest we were excited to get a chance to be the host family. It's not every day you get to meet an alien. That doesn't offend you, does it?"

Logan grinned, "No not really. That's kind of what I also wanted to ask you about."

"Hm?"

The teen scratched his cheek, "I don't really know the cultural norms here, language aside, so is there anything I should be aware of as far as insults or body language go? Is it wrong to say you're, you know, _a cat?_"

A look of realization crossed the feline's face.

"I see what you mean, kiddo. Well, first of all don't go tugging anyone's tail; that's basically asking for a fight. Second, try not to get the species wrong when you're referring to somebody, they might get mad if they think it's a slur, same thing with offering apes bananas or canines a bone, just don't. If a girl bats you in the face with her tail _deliberately_ then she's not trying to piss you off."

Logan frowned, curious, "What does that mean then?"

Mr. Lynx grinned a tad widely, "You'll find out kid."

Jones sighed as the older feline laughed, already picking up on _that_ particular message.

"Anyway, now that I'm staying with you folks, is there anything you'd like me to do around the house? I'm used to the whole duty roster thing after living in garrisons for so long, so it's not a problem at all."

Mr. Lynx clapped him on the shoulder and led him to the window.

"Sure thing, glad you've got initiative, unlike _some_ kittens around here..."

A dismissive _meow_ came from Miyu's presumed location in the living room.

Kyle shook his head, adjusting the glasses on his muzzle.

"Well if you're willing to lend a paw, there's vacuuming around the house once a week, trash and recycling at the end of the week, raking leaves in the back yard and mowing the lawn once a month. I've also got a few repairs I want to get around to on the house itself, but if you wanna help out I'd appreciate it."

"Sure thing."

"Great, I'll let you know when I start working on some of the repairs."

Logan stood in the hallway for a moment, not sure what to do, when Miyu called out to him.

"You wanna take a spin around town?"

He shrugged, "Long as you're offering."

"Daaad! We're heading out for a bit," the girl called to her father in the kitchen.

"Be safe you two!"

Logan slipped on his jacket and did up the lacing on his boots. Miyu had thrown on a pair of Cornerian boots that fit her well enough she didn't need to tie the short laces, slipping out the door without a care.

"C'mon, my ride's in the garage."

He followed her to the front where the lynx tapped a button on her keychain, prompting the garage to open up. What looked like a decently maintenance family hovercraft sat on the left, while a cherry red light cycle of some sort, covered in stickers for companies Logan didn't recognize was parked on the right.

Lost in thought, Logan walked around the two vehicles and knelt to the floor, peeking underneath the vehicles.

"What's the matter?" the feline asked, watching him inspect the place.

The human startled, shaking his head as he got up again and face the shiny light cycle with his arms crossed and a sour look.

"Something tells me I'm gonna regret this..." he muttered in a deadpan.

Miyu stuck her tongue out at him and smoothly mounted the bike, flipping the switch with a high pitch whine coming from the engine, "Suck it up princess."

_To hell with it, can't be worse than riding shotgun in a Mongoose._

Logan kicked his leg up over the rear fender, sitting just behind the feline as she cracked her knuckles. He grasped onto some handholds on either side of the back rather than try holding on to the fuzzy girl in front of him and risk a face full of claws.

"I hope you know what you're doing," he said over the noise of the engine being revved, also mildly concerned they weren't wearing helmets.

The lynx looked over her shoulder to give him a particularly nasty smirk, before twisting the throttle and gunning it out of the driveway.

Logan grit his teeth as the two of them whipped down the street at an unbelievable acceleration. Clearly these hovercraft light cycles didn't suffer from the kind of limits the old tire-based vehicles back home did.

The soon passed out of the residential section, and for a moment he enjoyed the feeling of wind on his face.

The white skyscrapers of the city limits loomed up and past them as Miyu took one of the intercity routes. A complicated mess of vehicles intersected with one another, the colors muddling together as Logan couldn't keep up with the surroundings blurring by. He tried to ignore the stares that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, it wasn't easy being the new guy in town.

The sidewalks were filled with passerby, and the teenager couldn't help but liken the diverse crowd to a zoo, seeing canines, felines, avians and even reptiles all walking upright and milling about on their day-to-day. Trees were planted sporadically along the way, adding some organic touch to the futuristic scene.

It was a little blinding looking around at the sunshine reflecting off the architecture. Neon glowed in abundance, even with it being daytime, and the sweeping arches of highways and underpasses intertwining that functioned off some sort of gravity-based technology for the hovercraft impressed the human.

"So where are we going?" Logan managed to shout over the blare of traffic and the engine's thrum.

Miyu's ears twitched in place, and she called back to him, "There's a little coffee joint I like down this way, might catch a few of my friends if they're there this early!"

After a few turns that nearly sent Jones skidding onto the pavement, the lynx pulled up alongside a cozy looking patio with large windows looking into the dim interior of a small cafe. Miyu parked the cycle among two others on the curb, killing the engine with a dull whine. The pair of them stepped off the vehicle, walking past the tables and chairs out front, with only an old Eagle sitting at the far end sipping from his cup.

A bell tinkled as Miyu pushed her way in through the main door and Logan followed. The inside wasn't too busy, with couples huddled about the booths and holding hands over their own little tables. The smell of dark roast filled the air, and a white Collie was taking orders in a dark red apron.

"Heya girl, how've you been?" Miyu called out to the waitress.

The pale canine tapped her customer's order onto a tablet and looked up with a wide smile. She had her long ears tied back with a brilliant red bow, and an earnest look about her that made her seem younger than she probably was.

"Miyu! I haven't seen you in a while!"

The two hugged briefly, when the girl looked up and saw Logan standing there. With wide eyes pulled back from her friend and appeared in front of the human teen so fast he did a double take.

"Oh wow! You must be the human that's living with Miyu! No fur...do you get cold? You must, but you're not much taller than us! I heard on the 'net that humans evolved from carnivores and could jump higher than-"

"Fay..."

"-a person, but here you are in _my cafe_ when I'm working! Oh geez, here I am in some plain getup-"

"Fay!"

The collie paused in her tirade and turned to look at the exasperated lynx behind her.

"Let's try saying _hello_ first, m'kay?"

The canine blushed furiously, the inside of her ears and her muzzle going bright red underneath her white fur, as she fidgeted in embarrassment.

"Eh heh, sorry," She beamed up at the boy and held out a dainty paw, "Fay Spaniel, very pleased to meet you."

Logan, momentarily taken aback, put on the best grin he could having just been ambushed by a caffeine-stimmed puppy girl and shook her hand.

"Logan Jones, pleasure's mine."

Fay rubbed the back of her head bashfully, "I have a tendency to run my mouth when I get nervous, I was really looking forward to meeting a real alien ever since I heard Miyu's family got accepted for the exchange program."

Logan leaned back and crossed his arms, "Don't sweat it. This is all a bit overwhelming for me too."

She gave him a brilliant smile, and Miyu jostled him with a leer.

"Flirting with my friends already, stud?"

The teen stared at her with a flat look, "Like that's gonna happen, I've got the personality of a brick."

They shared a laugh, and Fay led them to a booth by the window, wrapping up an order with her earlier customer before plopping down next to Miyu with a coffee cup for each of them.

"Here you guys go, two creams two sugars."

It was a bit sweet for Logan's taste, but nothing like the insta-caf from back home. You could actually taste the flavour of the bean roast.

"A guy could get used to this," he said quietly as he put his cup down.

The collie beamed at his approval and nudged her friend.

"So, looking forward to school tomorrow?"

Miyu rolled her eyes as she took a sip, "Ugh, I'd rather just sleep in. At least we finally get to use the firing range this year."

Logan looked between the two, puzzled.

"Schools here have weapons qualification?"

Fay cocked her head as she answered him, "Well, only some. The academy we're enrolled in is for those who plan to work in the CDF or the Navy's research division. We have a core curriculum of subjects you'd take anywhere else on Corneria, but also courses like small arms fire, flight and tactics you can take as electives."

A look of realization swept Logan's face.

"I get it, so it acts like a sort of bridge between basic training or officer qualification?"

"Yup yup!"

Miyu idly filed one of her claws as she sat by, relaxing in her corner of the booth, "A lot of the trainees get help from family training on their own time, so they come in to class good enough to handle the tests easily. Kinda makes it unfair for the kids who come up from nothing."

Fay giggled, "Yeah but Falco loves rubbing it in other people's faces, doesn't he?"

Miyu looked up at Logan with an arched brow, "What about you, Lo? Ever shot a rifle before?"

There was a tightening in the human teenager's brow, and he stared at a point just above his cup. He didn't answer, prompting the girls to exchange a glance, when Fay reached forward and tapped him on the arm, "You alright?"

The boy startled, and looking up at them again, waved off the concern.

"Yeah, yeah, just lost in thought."

Fay seemed to accept his statement, but Miyu was examining him more closely now. Logan tried to ignore the feeling of unease in his stomach as he finished the rest of his coffee.

"You know what class you'll be in yet?" Fay chimed in with a wag of her tail.

Logan shrugged.

"I'm meeting the faculty early tomorrow, then they'll point me to whatever homeroom I'm assigned for the year."

"Well, be sure to say hi if you catch us in the hallways."

"Will do."

The pair of girls returned to a lively conversation between each other about some net show they watched, and Jones leaned back to just enjoy the company for a moment. It was nice to experience an ordinary sort of social scene, he'd gotten too used to the sterile and lonely transit between colonies back in Sol. He smiled when the girls would pipe up to ask him something about Earth, and answered as best he could. It was a nice change of pace.

It helped him forget the fire and screaming.


	4. Arrival

**AN:** Thank you as always to those courteous enough to review, and for all the feedback given thus far. The story will feature a number of easter eggs and references to other material, so please understand that if something minor is not cited it's only meant as a neat reference for you to catch. If you have any questions or comments regarding the story, please feel free to contact me. Hope you enjoy it.

* * *

**Arrival**

* * *

_"Brace for impact!"_

_-UNSC Aegis Fate tactical officer, engaging Covenant CCS battle cruiser_

* * *

"You know, you keep scowling like that Fara, your fur's going to bristle."

A teenage fennec fox huffed at her friend's reminder, and cinched her messenger bag tighter over a shoulder.

"I don't care if it _bristles_, we're just going to class anyway."

The pink-furred feline walking beside the vulpine examined her eyeliner critically in a mirror, pretending not to hear for a moment, "Nothing wrong with struttin' your stuff, hun," she answered soothingly, with a wink.

The fennec sighed, and rolled her eyes.

"I get enough guys staring at me Katt, and they either want my tail or dad's fortune."

"Well it _is _a nice tail..."

"_Katt!_"

The crimson fennec's ears were longer than that of a usual vixen, and the rich russet red and cream white hue of her fur set it apart from her peers. A pair of tight jeans and a grey sweatshirt with a Space Dynamics logo emblazoned on the breast hugged her lithe frame. The vixen's long hair was drawn into a ponytail, with the exception of long bangs that shadowed her fierce green eyes.

Her friend, a pink-furred feline with a styled bob of white headfur examined the eyeliner she'd been applying as they walked and clasped her compact cosmetic mirror shut. She had a scuffed black leather jacket on with a yellow tee, and a pair of worn jeans with the knees torn off.

The pink kitty hid a smile, knowing how easily she could get under the vixen's fur.

"Alrighty, cool it Fara."

The fennec in question sighed. Katt Monroe could be difficult to get along with sometimes, but she wouldn't trade the street-wise feline for anybody. They were certainly an odd pair; one a confident heiress of the Phoenix legacy in the starship industry, and the other an orphan motorcycle chick with a saucy streak. They'd been best friends ever since they met as children.

Katt stretched her arms above her head and yawned, delighting in the crisp morning air.

"New class, new year, looks like it's gonna be a hell of a time, girl."

"Knowing you," Fara quipped, "It will be one way or another."

"Damn straight. Have you heard from Miyu lately?"

"No, what's she up to?"

The kitty grinned, "Well, apparently that Human boy finally showed up yesterday, and Fay says he's not bad looking..."

Fara arched an eyebrow.

"Wasn't she the one afraid they'd all be short grey things with googly black eyes?"

Katt giggled and shook her head.

"Oh don't bring that up, poor thing'll burst into flames she'd get so embarrassed."

"Geez...So what else did she say?"

"Apparently he's a quiet dude. If you threw a bag on his head you'd never know he was an alien."

"A bag on his head? Memories of your past boyfriends, Katt?"

The feline elbowed Fara and the two shared a laugh. The bustle of the sidewalk soon gave way to the much more lively chaos of the CDSS front lawn, where hovercars were filing in and out, parents dropping off their kids as all manner of species filtered into school before the first bell.

The fennec grimaced as her PDA went off again, flipping the slimline white pad out to skim the flashing lines of text.

"I have to sit in on another board meeting this weekend."

Katt whistled, "Breaking out the little old black number in silk for it?"

Fara signed, filtering through several other points on her monthly agenda before powering down the handheld PDA, stowing it in her pocket.

"Probably not, It's only going to be annual profits being revised and Daddy wants me to meet some of our supplier's extended family. It's networking, but just something in business casual will be fine."

"What a shame, I don't know how you put up with all that stuffy corporate droning, hun."

"Be polite, be professional, and try not to kill every sleazeball you meet," the fennec said with a wry grin.

The two girls sidestepped a weasel skating by on a hoverboard, and casually ignored the resulting crash when he intersected with a skunk carrying a stack of textbooks. As they walked up the steps to the main foyer of the high school, Katt turned to the fennec and asked her something innocuously.

"Have you talked to Fox lately?"

Fara's tail puffed up immediately with a rigid tension and her emerald eyes narrowed.

"_No._"

Katt edged away from the irate vixen just a tad, "C'mon hun, how long are you gonna stay mad?"

The look Fara gave her could have frozen plasma.

"I mean, sure _he_ was the one to break up with _you_, but he's not a bad guy..."

The fennec whirled on her pink friend and glared at her so close their noses were touching.

"He _left _me Katt," she enunciated with a jab of a manicured claw, "So he could run off and race _cycles_ in a small-time league. He left me for a _machine!_"

The pink feline stared back at her with a smirk.

"Hell, girl, there's plenty of men I'd ditch for a little machine, _if you know what I mean._"

Fara crossed her arms with a frustrated exclamation while Katt laughed loud enough to startle a rabbit passing by.

"Hurry up and let's get to class already you walking hormonal rug," the vixen grumbled.

The girls hurried alongside other teenagers rushing to first period. Past the rows of lockers they went until room 117 was in sight, and the pair slipped in the doorway and took their seats at the back of the room. It was still early, and their homeroom teacher wasn't there yet.

Fara slouched in her seat and took a moment to crik her neck, already feeling the stress creeping into her muscles. Between school and accompanying her father to formal business events in preparation for inheriting the company, her social life was dismal. If it wasn't for her close circle of friends she would _never_ get out at all. Their peers had more or less given her the title of 'ice queen' of Corneria District High, but the fennec could safely say she'd welcome the title if it meant less boring creeps lusting after her.

The digital intercom rang a shrill single-tone warble, first bell of the day.

As a couple of the late students filtered through the door, Fara spotted Miyu Lynx making her way in and waved her over to the back.

"Heya girl, long time no see," The wildcat threw her backpack over the back of her chair and laid back with her lean arms crossed behind her head.

"Hey Miyu," the fennec said, "how've you been?"

"Can't complain. Still looking for a new job but nothing's caught my eye yet."

She looked across the vixen to the pink feline opposite her, and winked.

"Still breaking hearts Monroe?"

Katt smirked, "You know it hun."

As their homeroom teacher walked in, a middle-aged female wolf with her hair in a bun, Katt leaned over to whisper as the noise died down and the morning announcements came on.

"So where's the alien?"

Miyu pointed towards the general direction of the front of the school, and mouthed 'office,' before looking up to the teacher starting roll call.

"Welcome class," the wolfess said, a pair of stylish red spectacles on her muzzle glinting as she addressed the class, "I'm Miss Cunningham, your homeroom teacher for the year. As you're all aware if you've read the prepatory packages, you will have first period in this classroom, where we will cover Languages, World Studies and History. You will rotate amongst other classrooms for periods two and three, break for lunch, and then rotate twice more for periods four and five, followed by dismissal at 0345 hours."

The woman paused, her ears twitching as she looked over her notes.

"Now you might have heard that we have a guest attending our class in particular. We will be hosting an exchange student from the recently contacted alien race Humanity."

Excited whispers broke out, kept to a low murmur by the stern glance of the mature wolfess.

"The student is part of a cultural program we are operating in conjunction with the human government, and from what I was told he will be checking in with the main office before-ah. Here he comes now."

A silence fell across the classroom as the teenage Cornerians all hushed, waiting to catch their first glimpse in person of one of the aliens they had all seen on the net, and despite herself Fara found her curiosity piqued, sitting up straight to get a look.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the hallway, there came a knock at the sliding door, Ms. Cunningham keyed the switch, and in walked the human.

He was about the same height a Cornerian teenager would be, standing straight-backed like one of those CDF guards around the star ports, although his frame more closely resembled the canines rather than the longer-limbed apes, which was strange considering their species had supposedly ape ancestry.

His face was muzzle-less, even flatter than the monkeys, yet somehow the angular weirdness suited him. The only fur visible was on his head, a bark brown cut similar to their own hairstyles. His bare skin was strange, almost like the amphibians but a pale peach color. He was wearing what probably passed for jeans on his world, and a black tee with a worn leather jacket overtop, a rucksack thrown over his shoulder.

The eyes though, they seemed to be smaller than a Cornerians, but way he stared reminded Fara of something she couldn't quite place, but put her on edge.

The fennec let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding.

"Logan Jones," the human spoke, his voice low and deliberate, while handing some papers to the teacher, "The staff had me wrap up some details before coming here."

"Of course," to her credit Ms. Cunningham didn't outwardly bat an eye at the prospect of a living alien addressing her, "If you'd like to say a few words to the class I'm sure we'd appreciate it."

He looked at her for a moment, and nodded slowly, stepping to the front of the room where he set down his pack as the wolfess put an encouraging paw on his shoulder.

"Hello," he started awkwardly, looking across the blank faces of the species in the classroom, as he thought for a moment about what to say.

"My name's Logan, I'm from the planet Tribute, in the Epsilon Eridani system. As part of the joint UNSC/CDF exchange, they sent me along for some diplomatic reason that I really can't explain so please don't ask me to," he trailed off as some uneasy chuckles popped up.

"I'm already fluent in Lylat common, but I'm probably not going to catch any of your slang, and I can read just fine as well, so if you have any questions don't be afraid to ask me."

A male Labrador Retriever raised a paw hesitantly, and the nodded for him to go ahead.

"So what kind of society do you humans have? Like, I mean... Are you violent, or...?"

"It depends on what planet you visit. Generally we're the same as you. Monogamous marriage, laws against theft and violence, elected officials..."

A Terrier spoke up in the second row, "Did your people have a lot of wars?"

It was at that moment that Fara saw something in the human boy's expression, that inexplicable thing that had put her on edge before.

He had the same look her grandfather did when he talked about the Macbeth civil war.

Another moment and it was gone. The human smiled tightly and said history wasn't his strong suit but that humanity had a tumultuous past.

Ms. Cunningham thanked him for the brief Q&amp;A, and ushered him to take a seat as a short polite applause sounded off. The teen dropped his ruck next to an empty seat in the back row, exchanging a quiet 'hey' with Miyu, before taking a seat.

Fara stared at him out the corner of her eye, brows furrowed. There was something eating away at the guy, and she wondered if the others had picked up on it.

Shelving the thought, she opened up her tablet console, and started to write down some notes as the teacher began to outline her lesson plan for the year.

* * *

The bell rang for second period, and the class shifted as everyone got up to vacate before the next kids came in.

"Hey Logan, over here!"

Miyu called the human guy over, jostling Katt as she giggled something under her breath.

"What's up?"

The lynx looked over her class schedule on a PDA, idly chewing one of her claws.

"I've got Home Ec next with Katt, where are you off to?"

He looked at his wrist mounted display before answering, "Math next, room 203."

The two felines looked at the vixen next to them, who narrowed her eyes at the pair suspiciously.

"Fara's heading there next," Miyu supplied helpfully, a tiny smirk on her face, "Fara meet Logan, Logan meet Fara."

The fennec sighed and shook her head at her friend's antics.

"Nice to meet you, Fara Phoenix, daughter of the spaceship magnate and all that jazz."

The human teen looked between the friends with a puzzled frown and shook her offered paw, "Logan Jones, local alien."

The pink-furred girl slipped in with a positively saccharine grin, "Katt Monroe, nice to meet you too, hun." The human looked a little taken aback by the flirtatious kitty.

Miyu glanced at the time and grumbled to herself as she hitched up her backpack.

"Well kids, as nice as this little meet and greet is, we gotta get going," She winked at Logan and made a 'finger shooting' motion as she left, "You be a good boy now, see you at lunch."

Jones gave her a lazy sarcastic salute, resulting in the feline pair chuckling as they left.

He turned back to Fara who was packing her messenger bag.

"I can head to the next class alone, you don't have to stick with me if makes you uncomfortable."

She shook her head at the offer, her ponytail whipping aside as she did so.

"No, it's fine. They were just teasing me earlier." She looked at him wryly, "I had a bad break up and they've been trying to set me up every now and then."

Logan shrugged at her explanation, falling into step alongside the fennec as they left the classroom.

"Fair enough. Don't take this the wrong way but I'm not really looking to start a relationship either."

The vixen grinned sardonically at him, "What, alien guy visiting another world not interested in the local girls? Not much of a Captain Kirk, are you?"

"Who?"

Fara shook her head.

"Nevermind, guess you wouldn't recognize the show."

"A lot of stuff here seems to be going over my head," Jones muttered. Fara laughed.

"I wouldn't worry about it, if you spend any amount of time around the gang you'll probably get a hang of it sooner or later."

He looked at her askance.

"You guys are awfully welcoming of a total stranger."

The russet-furred vixen ran a paw through her hair, "Miyu vouches for you, and she can tell if someone's bad news instinctively. Even Fay took a shine to you. Besides, if it was one of us going to a new place all alone, we'd want someone to be there looking out for us."

The human teen had slowed to a halt just before the doorway to room 203, staring at the fennec. She turned to him, giving him an inquisitive look.

"Just like that?" asked Logan, an unreadable expression on his face.

Fara nodded, a patient smile on her face.

He stared in thought a moment longer, at last quietly saying with a gentle smile, "Someday, I'll have to repay your hospitality."

The two cinched up the straps of their packs and headed through the doorway to their next class. Musing over the curious alien to herself, Fara decided he seemed to be alright, and that she wouldn't mind him hanging out with the gang after all.

Fara wouldn't think of that moment again for a long time, until what he said was proven true.


	5. Flawless Cowboy

**AN:** Apologies for taking so long between updates. For the bulk of the chapters ahead I will omit quotations as they're not contributing all that much with the exception of any key chapters coming up. As always, thank you for following and sharing your thoughts.

* * *

**Flawless Cowboy**

* * *

"Hey, you seen the new guy?"

A male blue avian had his feet kicked up over the table, reclining in his chair with a soda bottle held loosely in his feathered digits. He was a pheasant, although the flippant styling of the feathers on his scalp were those of a hawkish nature, and the fierce glare dissuaded anyone from pointing that out.

"No, can't say I have, Falco."

The teenage fox sitting next to him was idly stirring a fork through his pasta while reading a digital tablet. His fur was a common red for the species, with his headfur shorn to a conservative cut, unlike most others that let theirs grow out. His avian friend took a swig of the carbonated drink and idly swished the remainder.

"Feh, Katt was braggin' about how she laid eyes on him first, didn't seem like a big deal to me," The avian drained the last of the soda and tossed it over his shoulder into a trash bin. "Your old man's supposed to be runnin' security for some of those alien big shots, right Fox?"

The vulpine continued scrolling through some article on his tablet, taking a bite of the now-cold pasta as he did so.

"Yeah, he said it was a milk run for what he's being paid."

Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi, a notorious and unlikely pair of friends. Fox was a rising star in the CDSS with straight aces across the board, son of the legendary mercenary James McCloud, a tough legacy to live up to. His best friend, the street-smart punk Falco Lombardi, was the only other trainee pilot to keep up with him. The two were often neck-and-neck in competitions to top the score charts, and have recently taken up racing cycles on the side.

There was a clatter as a heavily loaded lunch tray settled on the table, and the pair of friends looked up.

"Man, can you believe they won't let you have seconds on Chili Dog day?" A green toad who was a bit more wide than tall grumbled mildly as he dug into an overloaded tray, his backpack crammed full of Engineering datapads to the point it looked heavy enough to be a weapon.

Fox raised a fuzzy eyebrow.

"You eat that much chili and I'm not letting you anywhere near my house for the next two days, Slip."

The toad gave him a withering look as Falco laughed. Long-time friends with the two hotshots, Slippy Toad was the son of a famous scientist working for the CDF, and had more than a passing talent in mechanical engineering.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up Falco," Slippy tugged absently at the red cap resting between his eyes before addressing Fox again, "You guys wanna do something this week? I've got no plans til the assignments start pouring in."

McCloud finally put away his tablet and elbowed Falco with a grin on his muzzle.

"Well, there's that drag race going on in Hogan's Alley that a couple losers said they'd get the drop on us over, so I'm thinking we defend our title as ranking champs."

Falco scoffed, "Yeah, you mean _my _ranking title Fox."

The vulpine's grin turned just a bit colder as the pair's old rivalry sprung up again, "We'll see about that Lombardi."

"Oh..."

The two looked over to see Slippy with an expression on his mug best compared to a guy watching his fridge fall on him, and turned around to see what caught his attention.

Fox's grin slipped off his face faster than a loose turbine.

"Hello McCloud."

Fara Phoenix barely spared him a glance as she took a seat at the table with Katt and Miyu, who rolled her eyes at the interpersonal drama.

"Hey there Fara." Fox didn't trust himself to say anything else at the moment, he was in enough hot water as it was.

"Soooo..." Falco threw his hands up in the air at the sudden awkward tension, "Anyone else feel like taking a spin? This is kind've a drag."

Miyu chuckled as she spooned some pudding, "You can't go skipping on the first day Falco, that's pathetic."

"I hate being cooped up. You know how it is, toots."

He ducked his head to the side as the Lynx threw a plastic-wrapped sandwich without missing a beat.

"One of these days I'm gonna knock you a good one Lombardi." She said with a scowl, the pink feline next to her giggling.

"How's your human roommate, Miyu?" Fox took the moment to segue out of the frosty silence between himself and Fara.

The lynx polished off the rest of her pudding and shrugged, "He seems like an okay guy, lil bit awkward but he's an alien and all. Kinda weird seeing someone almost totally bald though."

She looked askance at Slippy, "No offense, Frog."

He choked on a mouthful of chili dog, "It's amphibiou-"

"Whatever. He's got second period with Fay so they should be here any minute." Her tall ears twitched and the feline waved across the crowded cafeteria, "Here they come now."

The group looked up, as did others in the immediate area. Tagging along with an upbeat white Collie, the alien was in fact mostly hairless, except for his headfur. He wasn't particularly tall or muscular, and didn't look like he had any visible fangs or claws. Mostly, the guy looked somewhat ape-ish with the same upright body structure the mammals like Canid and Felid had. Judging by the expression on his face, the human had gotten a crash course in just _how much_ Fay can ramble on.

"...and you can have options if you're a vegetarian or a vegan, but if you're an omnivore like us then the meat isn't _too_ bad but you really have to try the burgers at Pop's, I mean, I try not to have one too often but they're just _to die for_, you know?"

He smiled with a tired slant, "I'm sure they are."

Miyu came to the poor guy's rescue and waved them over. "Alright Fay, let the dude breathe."

The newcomers took a seat at the remaining spaces towards the end of the table, and the human looked up at the unfamiliar faces regarding him.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Logan," he said evenly, "I'll be Miyu's new roommate for the next little while."

"Stuck in a house with her for a year?" Falco whistled, "You're a brave guy."

"Well the beatings haven't been too bad so far," Logan replied mildly, "And she did give me a pretty nice cage."

"Atta girl..." Katt's salacious smile only prompted a roll of the eyes from the Lynx in question.

"Anyway," Miyu directed her fork over to the lounging avian and started pointing out her friends, "The blue bird over there is Falco, dude's so full of himself his ego is basically another person." The bird in question rolled his eyes.

"That's Slippy, guy's a total klutz but he's the best frog with a wrench you could ask for." The amphibian smiled widely and gave the human a wave.

"And this guy's Fox McCloud, our resident hotshot." The vulpine nodded at the human, stirring his cold pasta absentmindedly.

The lunch proceeded into casual conversation. Logan answered the Cornerian's questions about his home world and humanity in general, and the others chatted about life on their own corner of the galaxy.

"So what do you do for fun over in human space?" Fox asked while surreptitiously avoiding Fara's gaze.

Logan shrugged, "I don't really stay in one place long enough for any sports, mostly just marksmanship when there's spare time."

This caught Miyu's attention, "Didn't know you were a crackshot. Thinking about infantry in your future?"

"I like having my boots on the ground, never did well in the flight sims."

Falco smirked, "Whatever pal, screwing around in the mud's not my idea of a good time."

"How about your hand to hand?" The Lynx elbowed Logan hard enough he spilled some of his milk on his plate, frowning at the mess before shrugging and eating the pasta as it was.

"Not winning any medals, but I guess I can punch people, why?"

Logan felt a spike of something cold trickle down his spine as he saw the positively _sinister_ grin that crossed the feline's muzzle, "Oh, I think you and me are gonna have a lot of fun in PE..."

"You cats can't like...jump 20 meters in the air or claw straight through my neck, can you?" He looked over at Katt for confirmation, "Am I going to die?"

The pink feline grinned, "It's how we keep you boys in line. _Rawr."_

"Thought as much."

Falco chuckled to himself, "Man, you got some bad luck pal."

"Laugh it up little man," Katt rounded on the avian with a smirk, "You're _mine_ when we're sparring."

"Would you _stop_ calling me that?" Lombardi responded irritably.

Fox shook his head while cleaning up his plate, "Chill out guys, it's not a tournament."

"Then you won't mind a little practice with me McCloud, will you?"

Fox winced at the icy tone in Fara's voice as she hitched up her bag for the next period and left, a collective "Ooohh" went up from the table.

"That's _entirely_ your fault, Fox." Fay shook her head as she too got ready to leave.

Falco patted his buddy consolingly on the shoulder, while Logan binned his tray and slipped his backpack over a shoulder. Miyu sidled up next to him, tail swaying rhythmically behind her.

"You have the firing range with us next period?" Logan nodded as the Lynx fell into step next to him.

"Cool, I'd like to see just how good you are. 'Course I'm still gonna wipe the floor with you in hand-to-hand..."

The human groaned, rubbing his eyes.

"Getting my ass kicked by an alien chick always was high on my list of life goals."

They crossed through the doors to the cafeteria as the others filed in behind them, other students chattering around them as they headed off to their own classes, while unseen was Logan's right hand shaking slightly.

...

"Welcome to Marksmanship 101."

The Labrador Retriever teaching the class was wearing a faded CDF uniform and a service cap between his floppy ears. A serious expression was imprinted on his canine features, and a heavy stun baton holstered on his hip. The students for that period were crowded behind the cubicles lining the firing line, a green light shining overhead indicating it was safe to move around.

"You'll be introduced and drilled on the basic handling for several firearms in preparation for future employment with the CDF, Air Force or Security fields. The safety regulations are not to be violated at any time or you will be criminally charged and face expulsion from the school. _Are we clear?_"

"Yes sir!" The assembled students replied as a group.

The blonde lab nodded, satisfied. "Good. Firearms are never to be treated lightly, poor maintenance or discipline can and will result in malfunction or friendly fire, and no one wants to be responsible for killing their friend."

"This year, however," The canine held up his arm, showing off two tables arranged neatly with separate families of weapons laid over them, "We have a bit of a special circumstance for you kids. In partnership with the UNSC, they've provided a number of their own infantry small arms for the students of CDSS to become familiar with."

The announcement set off excited murmurs as the teenagers looked over the unfamiliar weapons, many eager to see what an actual alien weapon was like.

"Myself and several of the instructors at this school have been qualified on the firearms basic operation and drill, however I do believe this class has someone a little more familiar with them than we are..." The dog looked over to the unique silhouette of the human teen in the back row, "Mr. Jones, would you mind giving us a little demonstration to kick things off?"

Logan was staring straight ahead with a stony expression, upon being addressed he frowned imperceptibly, but nodded.

"Not at all, sir."

He walked quickly past the other students all watching him approach the table. The group collectively put in their ear protection at a signal from the instructor. The older canine inclined his head towards the human teen and said quietly, "Just a few targets at 100 meters, nothing fancy, keep it clean."

Logan nodded, and approached the table.

On one side was an assortment of Cornerian weapons, most of them several colors he'd never expect on a combat weapon. To the left was an assortment of UNSC small arms, with a number of others up on a wall rack behind them. There were M7 Submachine Guns, the iconic M6G Pistols, The M90 CAWS Shotguns, BR55 Battle Rifles and the backbone of the UNSC grunts: the MA5C Assault Rifle. Logan indicated one of those to the range officer.

The dog nodded, and barked out "Pick up the rifle!"

At once, Logan reached forward and palmed the grip of the MA5C, pointing it downrange as he did so. He pulled the cocking handle to the rear, visually inspecting the chamber, before letting the action go forward under control. He rattled through a quick functions test, checking the rifle on Safe, Repetition and Automatic. Satisfied, he closed the dust cover and stood ready in his aisle, the class watching him expectantly.

"Load!" Called out the Labrador.

Logan shifted his position, finger resting outside the trigger guard as he picked up a magazine, visually checked it, and slapped it home with a satisfying 'click.'

"Ready!"

He brought the rifle up to eye level. While some of the weapons had their armored 'hump' and ammo counter removed for use with the iron sights, the neural implants Logan had brought up a small pale blue reticule in his field of vision, which the instructor briefly mentioned to the assembled class. He pulled the cocking handle back, chambering a round. He closed the ejection port and ensured the weapon was set to Safe once more.

"At your own time, go on!"

Logan took a deep breath, regulating his heart rate as he flipped the selector to Repetition. A buzzer went off, and holographic targets started to appear down the firing range. He sighted in on one of them, a monkey in some hardsuit with scoring zones indicated, and squeezed the trigger.

The sharp report of the rifle caused several students to jump, it was certainly louder than its Cornerian counterparts. Jones, however, was in a world of his own.

The human teenager directed a measured flurry of fire towards his targets, practicing with his older brother having ingrained the basics into his muscle memory. The MA5C barked rapidly, spitting 7.62x51 casings as the bullets flew downrange. He ejected a spent mag smoothly and rammed a full one in it's place, slapping the bolt hold-open to chamber a new round. This time he switched the rifle to Automatic, as multiple targets appeared on the range at once.

An angry clatter and impressive muzzle flash ripped out of the MA5C, as Logan directed short, controlled bursts into the holo targets. Several seconds later, the last target fell, and the light overhead switched back from red to green. Logan ejected his spent mag, racked the charging handle back to inspect the chamber, and ran a safety check before placing the weapon down.

"Well done Mr. Jones," The Labrador said as he looked over the teen's performance on a tablet, "That's a 97% accuracy rating...You'd qualify Expert with a score like that."

Logan stared out at the silent range for a moment longer, and almost like he'd forgotten the instructor was there, turned with a start and acknowledged him demurely. The teen returned to the group, folding his arms as he took his place amongst Miyu and her friends.

The others congratulated him on his performance, while students filtered up to look at the rifles. Miyu elbowed Jones with a smirk, "Not bad dude, you're a pretty good shot after all."

"Where'd you learn to shoot like that?" Fay asked from his other side.

Logan didn't answer right away, shrugging as Slippy and Falco argued over something the bird said ahead of them.

"A couple places," he said quietly, "You never know when you're really going to need something like that."

The human stared out at the firing range, clenching his jaw as he tried to block out memories of plasma and gunfire.

Fay and Miyu shared a look of concern behind his back.


	6. It's Quiet

**AN:** Thank you for your patience, and for the feedback as always.

* * *

**It's Quiet...  
**

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**1545 Hours, Early Fall 5****th****, 1994 (Local Time) Corneria City, CDSS**

The bell rang across the intercom system of the Corneria District Secondary School. Teenagers rushed out of classrooms, chatting loudly with one another as their backpacks swung. Hoverboards and lightcycles raced out of the parking lot, parents pulled up to the curb to pick up their kids, busses slowed to a crawl and let the freshmen board. It was a sunny day with clear blue skies, and Logan was clutching his bruised jaw.

"I'm not sparring with you anymore," the human muttered darkly to the much too pleased lynx beside him, "That spin kick of yours is a nightmare."

She elbowed him playfully, "Cry some more, dude."

Jones worked his jaw with a sigh, the tightness wearing off as the pair of them started the walk home. He idly thought about just how clean the main streets in downtown Corneria City were, the grey and white architecture sweeping across the skylines as multicolored crowds filtered along the roadways. Back home the concrete and steel utilitarian design most human inner cities featured was a much more drab comparison.

He lost his train of thought as a skunk girl with glasses passed him carrying some books on obsolete computers. He was still having a hard time resisting the urge to double take when a humanoid silhouette turns out to be an exotic alien. Still, _he_ was the alien here, after all.

"Fay's gonna meet us back home, we can do this week's homework so the weekend's free."

"Cool, I guess the others are doing their own thing?"

Miyu rolled her eyes.

"Fox and the birdbrain are probably racing again, Fara and Katt might come by after."

"Sounds like I'm outnumbered."

"I promise we won't eat you, dude."

Jones couldn't help but crack a smile, even with his bruised jaw. The pair had settled into an amicable ease with one another, if he closed his eyes he'd even forget the girl was an alien.

Soon enough the familiar suburbia of the Lynx family's neighborhood was passing them by, and the two teens walked up the familiar driveway amidst the bustle of other kids returning home along the street.

"Mom! We're home!" The feline called out as she kicked off her boots haphazardly.

Catherine poked her head out of the kitchen and waved at the pair, "Welcome home hun, how was the first day of school?"

Miyu shrugged and collapsed on the couch with a yawn, stretching her whole body from her arms above her head to her curled toes.

Cathy huffed and turned to her human charge.

"What about you dear, getting used to Corneria?"

Logan smiled politely, "It's a nice place, still getting over my space lag, but thanks for asking."

The calico cat grinned brightly at him and waved him off.

"I'm glad you're fitting in so well, dinner's going to be around 1800 so grab a snack if you two are hungry."

Logan hung up his jacket and sank into one of the plushy easy chairs in the living room, looking at Miyu's prone form with a raised brow.

"You look comfy."

The lynx hummed agreement with her arms folded behind her head. "We got some time before Fay shows up, you wanna watch anything?"

"Sure, you pick."

Miyu languidly reached over for the remote control, thumbing the power as the flatscreen on the wall lit up. She flicked through the channels; a cooking program, some beach scene, a sitcom, pausing on a news program that featured a good looking wolfess with glasses speaking seriously next to a superimposed image of a damaged spaceship.

"What's this?" Logan cut in, frowning as he examined the laser scouring on the hull.

Miyu turned up the volume, and the pair watched silently at the bulletin.

"…_reports are still inconclusive at this time," _the canine on the screen said while shuffling hardcopy papers, _"although the findings presented to the press have been limited as per operational security of the CDF's investigation. Public Security Section 9 has been called in as a result of suspected cyber sabotage, although at the present time no terrorist groups have taken responsibility for the attack. General Pepper has scrambled elements of the 6__th__ fleet in response to the unprovoked attack in Sector Z, although declined to comment on what the nature of the CCS Vigilant's cargo."_

Miyu hissed under her breath as her tail twitched in agitation, "It's Andross, it just has to be."

Logan tore his eyes away from the report, "Andross?"

The lynx sat up, crossing her arms uncomfortably as she explained, "Andross Oikonny, he used to be a pretty famous scientist here on Corneria. He was into all kinds of really heavy duty research, biotechnology and warp theory and some more illegal stuff. Eventually he screwed up and set off an explosion that leveled a quarter of the city a couple years ago, he was exiled to the planet Venom ever since."

The human teen looked over at the screen detailing the attack, and then back at Miyu.

"You said he was exiled, for causing an explosion? Even if he did, isn't that a bit much for an accident?"

The feline scowled, "He was already on probation for his genetic experiments, but the explosion was caused by some bioweapon he was trying to perfect, if it had gone off properly it could have killed the whole planet."

Logan stared off into space at that statement, "…the whole planet, huh?"

"Hmph."

Miyu flipped her legs back up on the couch, "He's trouble waiting to happen, some megalomaniac nutcase just begging for a bolt between the eyes. Bad guys like him are why I'm gonna be an interceptor pilot, first in line keeping the fleet safe."

Jones raised his eyebrows, "An interceptor pilot…so you must be pretty good in the cockpit."

The feline giggled, "You better believe it. Guys like Fox and Falco might have fancy moves for air superiority but I'm all about that speed. Come flying in outta' nowhere and shove a couple nova bombs up the enemy's tailpipe before they even see my carrier."

Logan sighed reaching inside his backpack to pull out his tablet, "You really think there's going to be a war?"

"Probably. Andross always was good at getting people to follow him, and ever since he got exiled there's been talk he's trying to build some kinda empire on Venom."

The human teen scowled, "We used to have Insurrectionists like that in my galaxy, still do in some parts."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that dude."

He looked up at the suddenly serious lynx, who had scooted closer on the couch to stare him in the eye.

"I get that you're the new to the Lylat System, but you seem really out of it sometimes, like today at the firing range. Did you, like, you know…" The feline trailed off awkwardly, trying to broach the delicate subject, "…did something happen to you?"

Logan stared at the lynx for a long silent moment, almost as if he was looking through her, before he opened his mouth to respond just as Catherine stuck her head in from the kitchen.

"I made you kits some sandwiches to tide you over, Miyu would you be a dear and bring them over?"

"I'll get them Miss Lynx," The human said as he got up.

Miyu frowned softly at the evasion, convinced there was something eating away at the guy. When Logan came back she wiped the look off her face and pretended nothing had happened.

"You ever had persimmon jam before?"

"No, can't say I have." The pair bit into their sandwiches, a pleasant surprise for Logan who had never had much variety in his jam before, outside artificial spreads on starships.

The front door rang, and swung open with a cheerful "Hey guys!" called out by the white collie stumbling as she removed her shoes.

"Heya Fay." "Hey."

The white canine almost _bounced_ over to the pair, snatching a persimmon jam sandwich and curling up on half the couch Miyu hadn't taken up.

"How was cheer practice?" The feline asked her paler friend.

Fay made a sound with her mouth full before holding up a paw as she chewed and swallowed.

"Mmmph. First day you know, so nothing really important, but we did do some drills with the new girls. Bill came by, said he was going to watch Fox and Falco's run over in Hogan's Alley."

Miyu cracked a cheshire smile, "Oh that pup's got it bad for you, girl."

Fay giggled and waved her off, scarfing her sandwich down.

"Oh stop, he's just comes to watch us practice."

"Us being little miss collie here."

Laughter aside, the three of them sat down to finish their homework early. Assignments for the first week had already been handed out, and Logan found the mathematics to be the same. He did struggle with the history and language class papers, although Fay was helpful enough coaching him through it. All in all, from what he'd seen of Cornerian society so far it was a peaceful kind of place that reminded him of some of the older movies from the 20th century on Earth.

"Hey Lo, Fox is having the gang over tomorrow, you wanna come?"

Jones looked up from his answer sheet on the Macbeth Civil War.

"I don't know, you guys don't have to drag me along if you'd rather not."

"Sheesh dude, it's no problem. You're nowhere near as annoying as Falco is anyway."

Logan shrugged, "Alright then, sounds cool."

He felt a tug on his shirt, and turned around to see Abby staring up at him from the side of the easy chair.

"Hey mister alien."

"Hey kiddo."

The human teen put down his tablet and picked up the little ball of fur, smiling as she mewled waving her hands while aloft.

"Did you have school today too?"

"Yup! Daddy took me to the preschool today, but we were late cuz Mommy drives faster."

"Is that right? Must run in the girl's side of the family then."

Catherine called Abby from the kitchen, and the little fluff ball scampered off Logan's knee and out the living room. He turned back to the girls, Fay watching the exchange with a smile on her muzzle.

"You sure are good with kits."

"Yeah?"

"Bill's always afraid of accidentally stepping on one or something."

Miyu snorted, "Grey's big enough he might do that by mistake for sure."

"Grey? Bill Grey?" Logan asked aloud.

"Yeah, you know him already?"

He shook his head, "I met his dad on the shuttle down. Nice guy."

Fay smiled brightly, "Maybe I'll introduce you guys sometime."

"Yeah, if you get tired of hogging your love puppy all to yourself…"

"_Miyu!"_

The three of them laughed together, passing the evening in good humor as they finished their assignments. Fay stayed behind for dinner, and Miyu's father Kyle grilled Logan a bit more on human society, particularly interested in the sports leagues that spanned the inner colonies.

At last Cathy took Abby up in her arms, going off to put her to bed as Kyle cleaned up the table with the three teens. Fay said her goodbyes and left for her house down the street, while Miyu and Logan went up the stairs to their own rooms. A quiet exchange of 'goodnight's and Logan was alone, lying on his covers as he stripped to his skivvies.

Checking his PDA function on the Tacpad, he saw a message saved from his brother stationed on the Orbital Station Hub. Frowning, he opened the email, taking note of the tag that was attached.

**United Nations Space Command Priority Transmission 09872H-97**

Encryption Code: **Red**

Public Key: file /_excised access Omega_/

From: LCpl Jones, Line Det 1, CDF Orbital Gate Station P3X 594

To: Jones, Logan (Civilian Identification Number: 10141-026-SRB4694)

Subject: Warning Order

Classification: **RESTRICTED** (BGX Directive)

/start file/

_Logan,_

_Situation's getting complicated, possible threat in-system that the UNSC's going to commit to. I can't say much without breaking opsec, keep your ear to the ground and make sure you don't talk about our hardware star-side. We're a new player in a different game here, and lots of people are going to be interested in how we break the rules._

_Your school has an armory as part of our exchange, there's a storage locker for the UNSC issue kit, rifles and M52B marine body armor, basic issue. If things ever get dicey, the unlock code is: __**victor zero five - whateverittakes**__. Use it only if there's no other option._

_I'm not gonna lie little bro, this isn't our fight, but we're picking it anyway. We're in no shape to start committing forces back and forth, so it's going to be secret squirrel work until ONI drops the ball like they always do. Keep your head down and remember the drills we did for Innies._

_-AJ_

Logan shut off the Tacpad and stared at the far wall of his room in the silent dark. He held up his hand, shaking slightly before willing it with a scowl to lie still. A car revved outside, and teenagers laughing could be distantly heard.

They didn't know. Not what a glassing was like, or invasion.

He breathed deeply, listening to Catherine and Kyle talk just out of earshot in the living room downstairs, and the sound of music coming from Miyu's room.

This wasn't their fight, but humanity cut their eyeteeth in three decades of war, and they'd be damned if they stood idly by while innocent people were killed by some insurrectionist monkey and his army.

Logan patted the comforting profile of the M6C Magnum between the mattress and the wall.


	7. Impend

**AN: **Thank you for your patience, as always feel free to review and comment on what you'd like to see and any criticism you may have.

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**Impend**

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**0800 Hours, Early Fall 6th, 1994 (Local Time) Corneria City, CDSS**

Logan yawned as the first period bell rang, letting the majority of his classmates get up first before rising from his desk and packing away his tablet and books. Miss Cunningham was at the head of the classroom deleting the previous lesson plan from the holo-board, swishing her wolfish tail idly.

A stack of papers batted him lightly on the back of his head, and he blearily looked over at the fennec responsible.

"Why?"

Fara gave him a sardonic grin and walked on by, "C'mon, it's only first period and you're already tired?"

The human sighed and got up, slipping his backpack and jacket over his shoulder as he fell into step alongside the vulpine.

"You get any of your assignments done yet?" He asked.

"Only a bit, I heard Miyu had a study session with you and Fay last night."

"Seemed like a good idea to get it done ahead of time."

The pair sidestepped an oddly zebra-patterned female skunk as they made their way to the next classroom, though Logan had to pointedly refrain from glancing at her sizable bust.

"You coming to that thing tonight?" He asked Fara offhandedly.

"Thing?" She replied dryly.

"Thing with the guy at the place…seriously though, Miyu said McCloud was inviting everyone to his joint."

The fennec's jaw tightened, "No."

Logan was put off by her sudden swing in mood, before it dawned on him, "Oh…"

"Yeah…oh."

"For the love of f…look, hold on."

The teenager stopped walking and held up his palms placating, as the irate fennec stared at him flatly with narrowed eyes.

"I forgot, okay? Things being weird between you two. Don't eat my head over it."

She sighed, and flipped a stray bang out of her eyes.

"Yeah…don't worry about it Jones. It's just gonna be a while before I'm not mad at him. Honestly I'd rather not show up if it's going to make things weird."

"Yeah, well, they'd probably rather have you there than me. I'm just some friggin' alien."

She cocked a brow, "And how many of those do we have kicking around Corneria?"

He shrugged, "The novelty's gonna wear off fast."

Fara rolled her eyes and smacked his arm as they resumed walking, "You're such a dope."

Room 203 wasn't that packed yet, and the pair took a seat by the windows, enjoying the warm morning sun filtering through the polyglass. Logan had just started to lean back and yawn again when Fay bounded into the room and startled him by crashing her effects into the seat ahead of him.

"Morning guys!" The collie chirped brightly.

The human groaned, rubbing his eyes, "Seriously Fay, you're going to have to share some of that energy you have in spades."

"Caffeine and sugar," the white canine leaned back to mock-whisper, "that's my secret."

Logan and Fara exchanged a dry look at that statement.

Hearing another student walk in, Jones absently looked to the front of the classroom, where a wolf slouched through the doorway wearing a beaten leather jacket, kicking up his feet as he sat towards the back of the classroom. Curiously enough, he was given a wide berth by the others that had come in early, and Logan couldn't remember seeing him the day before.

"Hey Fay," He asked quietly, "Who's the guy in grey?"

She looked up for who he'd meant, and seeing the newcomer, frowned slightly.

"Umm…"

"What?"

"That's O'Donnell. He's from a pretty rough part of the city. Nobody messes with him."

Logan looked away from the scowling lupine and took out his tablet and notebook.

"Sure looks that way."

The collie was fidgeting slightly, and picking up on the nervous gesture the human boy asked her what was the matter.

"Well," Fay hesitated, "It might be just rumors, but I heard his parents were in the Macbeth civil war, and a lot of people look down on their kind for being the instigators."

Logan stared at her a moment longer, "What do you think?"

The collie averted her eyes and busied herself with her tablet.

"...I think he looks lonely, but won't admit it."

There was nothing more said between the two. The teacher came in shortly and they began the class with the conversation turning over in the back of their minds.

* * *

"Like, as in wheels? Actual wheels?"

Logan spooned another helping of whatever the pasta and fish gumbo was on special today into his mouth, "Yeah, our anti-grav tech's still in its infancy. Nothing on vehicles yet."

Falco scowled like someone had told him feathers were going out of style, "That's wacked, man. You haven't lived till you've cruised freeways on a hoverbike."

Jones pointed his spoon at the avian as he chewed, "I actually get what you mean there, Miyu took me along for a ride back on day one."

"Nothing like the wind in your face, huh?"

"Yeah I wouldn't say no to nabbing one myself."

"Hey there boys."

The pair looked up as Katt Monroe slid into the seat next to Falco, earning a roll of the eyes from the bird.

"Comin' to Foxie's place tonight?" The pink cat snatched up a grape from her plate and popped it into her mouth.

"Yeah, got nothing better to do anyway." Falco replied.

"Sure ya do little man," The feline stuck her tongue out at him, "What about you, sugar?"

Jones shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm coming."

"Great, looking forward to getting to know my first human."

"You'll be disappointed, I'm boring."

"Oh, you mean like all the other boys around here, hmm?" She elbowed Falco in his side and sauntered off, "I'm coming over with the girls later on, see you boys!"

The pair watched her walk away, Logan turning to Falco who was rubbing his sore ribs absently.

"You two have a history?"

"Let me give you some advice man," Lombardi grumbled, "Never stick it in crazy."

"Amen."

* * *

After school that day, Logan found himself ambling alongside Miyu again. He watched the crowds disperse from the CDSS grounds, still feeling a sort of disorientation looking at all the different species and colors that were all still very new to the human out of his depth.

"Dude you really need to learn how to relax," Miyu quipped next to him, "you look like we're dropping into a war zone."

Logan ran his fingers through his hair.

"Yeah yeah, still getting used to all you exotic types."

"Look who's talking furless."

Miyu led the way as they headed to the McCloud neighborhood. Not too far away from the Lynx family house. The sky was a brilliant sapphire, with wispy clouds buffeted overhead interrupted occasionally by hover cars and aircraft higher up. Logan took a moment to scan the horizon of skyscrapers, once more wishing that the human reconstruction efforts could yield cities

They came to a more quiet neighborhood, not as packed as the cozy suburb Miyu lived in, but rather only a few houses spaced along increments of green grass lawns and trees that gave the impression of an almost-park. Logan abstractly thought it would make great cover from incoming fire.

"Here we are, Foxie's dad hasn't done too badly for himself in the merc business." Miyu elbowed Jones, prompting him to take in the sight of the house in question.

It was a nice house, two floors and a spacious garage. While the Lynx household was very nice, this was evidently the pricier neighborhood, which made Logan wonder just how much looting the senior McCloud must have done in his career to afford it. Surely mercenary contracts weren't that profitable, were they?

Following Miyu's lead, he watched her knock on the front door, which was shortly opened by Fox himself.

"Hey guys, c'mon in. Glad you came, Logan." the young vulpine smiled.

The human shed his boots at the entry way, eyeing the swishing tail of the Lynx in front of him as they followed Fox to the basement. As the two stepped down the stairs chatting about a race that happened earlier, Logan paused when he heard two people in the livingroom. Thinking it would be polite, he stepped over and knocked on the door frame.

"Hello there."

A pair of older foxes were sitting together on the couch, looking up as he entered. The female, sitting with the male's arm around her shoulders was a beautiful vixen with a pale auburn complexion, long hair gathered up in a ponytail between her large ears. The male was a sturdily built vulpine with the observant look in his eyes that belied a military occupation, and had a well-worn pair of shades resting in the collar of his shirt. He seemed the very picture of domestic comfort next to his wife, but something about the easy posture in the fit Cornerian reminded Jones of the older Marines he saw in the company of his brother; kept sharp by fire.

"You must be Logan, Fox was just telling us about you."

The human nodded and stepped forward as the vulpine rose to shake his hand.

"Glad I could make an impression. Logan Jones," He said, "Thank you for inviting Miyu and I over."

"Don't mention it kiddo, you guys are welcome. My name's James, and this is my lovely wife Vixy."

The vixen with the original name gave a gentle smile and shook Logan's hand in turn, "Very nice to meet you dear."

"Likewise."

"So how are you liking Corneria so far?" James asked, leaning back on the couch, "Not too rough getting used to us is it?"

Logan shook his head, "Everyone's been too nice, your son was awfully kind welcoming me along with his old friends."

The older vulpine grinned with a devil-may-care smirk, "He's a good kit, and it isn't in our nature to leave folks hanging."

The human teen felt some of the tension inside him ease up, flattered at the hospitality.

"So you come from a military family?" Vixy asked.

Expecting the question, Logan suppressed any facial tic and nodded.

"Yes, my older brother serves in a special forces unit. I'm considering my future somewhere along the same lines, flying was never my strong suit."

That brought a chuckle out of James, "Heck, you couldn't drag me into a ground-pounder outfit if you tried, sky's always been my home."

Even Logan had to grin at that, "Your son said the same thing."

They shared a good natured chuckle, before Vixy shooed him off, "I'm sure we're keeping you dear, you go on and see the others downstairs. It was very nice meeting you."

James gave a two fingered salute, "Later kiddo."

Logan disappeared down the basement stairs, and Vixy snuggled back into her husband, "He's very nice, I wasn't expecting an alien to be so ordinary."

James had kept looking at where the teen had walked down to meet the others, the grin slipping off his face slightly.

"He's seen war."

The vixen looked up concerned, "What do you mean?"

James frowned slightly, "Just a feeling, you can recognize it in the eyes, the way a person aches. That kit's seen things."

Vixy rose up as she stared at her husband, lowering her voice, "Has Pepper told you something?"

"No, nothing like that. Things are pretty quiet on the human's side of things, but its the little things that give it away. Something really bad happened over there."

The couple sat quietly, thinking it over, before moving on to more pleasant topics, and the easygoing grin found its way back onto James's muzzle as he hugged his wife closer.

* * *

"C'mon Slippy, ease up on the throttle or they'll..."

"Ah dang, they got the flag."

"Hey, any more cherry soda?"

"Nope, Falco downed the last of it."

"Falco!" "Falco..." "FALCO!"

"Whaaat?"

"Nevermind that, any 7's?"

"Sorry furball."

_flick_

"Man, not again..."

As Miyu cackled and gathered up the chips she'd won with her hand of cards, Logan looked over to Bill and Slippy playing a splitscreen shooter match online. Capture the Flag was apparently not going so well now that their team lost the initiative on some gulch map, and he lost interest as Slippy flipped his vehicle by mistake again and Bill on the gunner position got killed by the crash. Falco was arguing with Fay over a can of orange soda, and Fox finished dealing another round of cards as he reached down to pick up his new hand. The atmosphere in the basement was cozy, a beaten up old couch and a number of blankets and pillows laid out made for a great time to break out the videogames and snacks. The girls had drawn the longer straw, so apparently they had first pick for the movie later(much to the boys annoyance) and a Cornerian rock band played in the background over a small radio punctuated by the sounds of the videogame and easy chatter.

"So your family's originally from Papetoon?" Logan asked Fox.

"Yeah, we came over when I was a kit. Dad saved up the money he earned flying and now he's got a pretty nice contract with the CDF, living in Corneria City makes things easier when he's between jobs."

"You thinking about taking on the family business then?"

Fox grinned, trading in a pair of cards.

"You know it. Couple more years and most of us will be flying as the new Star Fox team." The statement brought a cheer from the animals present, and Logan had to smile at the camaraderie the close-knit group had together.

"What about you, man?" Falco chimed in, having thrown his hand and given up the soda can to a victorious Fay, "What's your gig?"

"Thinking about following my brother's footsteps, becoming an ODST," Jones replied, laying out his hand, and winning the round for the first time that night.

"Infantry right?" The blue falcon took his turn to deal new cards, "What's the unit supposed to be exactly?"

The human palmed his cards and began to explain as the others listened in to the resident alien.

"The Orbital Drop Shock Troopers are part of the human navy's special forces, a branch of soldiers named for the way they get fired into enemy territory, namely a one-man drop pod that's launched out of a starship fast enough to bypass most enemy anti-air fire."

"Wait, what."

"Drop pods. Really fast, really dangerous. Couple fatalities regularly, even in training."

"What the heck's wrong with you guys? You jump into a missile pointed at a planet and come out shooting?" Falco's beak was agape.

"There's a parachute and retro thrusters, but it's a hell of a landing. Kind of a necessary measure for taking tough positions."

"And you want to do this? Jump out of perfectly good spacecraft and hurl through atmo _on fire?_" Fox asked taken aback, an eyebrow raised.

Logan grinned and downed the rest of his soda, "Its one way to make a living..."

"Wow," Fay shook her head, snowy ears flopping slightly, "Your brother must be a tough guy, to be in that kind of unit."

Jones nodded, "He's been through a lot."

Miyu picked up a card, eyeing her hand, "Well it's gonna be an interesting few years with what Venom's getting up to. We'll all have our work cut out."

"Yeah, Andross has been rumored to be consolidating power out in the rim territories," Bill leaned over the couch arm to chime in, reaching down as Logan passed a bag of chips to him.

"Miyu and I were talking about that yesterday, actually."

"What do you think it means for you humans then?"

Logan got quiet and noticed everyone was looking at him then, and averted his eyes.

"I'm not supposed to talk about that."

Fox barked out a quick laugh, prompting curious looks.

"Figured, of course that means you guys are probably already involved, right?"

The human teen sighed at the perceptive vulpine, though the unspoken implication had an encouraging effect on the animals. Jones supposed they were worried too, on some level, that the UNSC might have planned to stay out of things, or even support Venom.

"Tell you what," Fox set his cards down as he fixed Logan with a serious look, "If you show us a bit of that fancy shooting you pulled back in class, then I'll show you a thing or two about flying our aircraft. We could use a gunslinger like you. Sound good?"

Logan stared back, considering McCloud's words. He felt like the decision was important, a possible future that might branch out very different from what he had resigned himself to in the shadow of his elder brother. He looked across the faces of the animals there, seeing their earnest friendship with one another, and feeling the offer extended to him to join them. He didn't know what it was about him that Fox approved of, but as the unspoken leader of the group, it seemed like he was the lynchpin for the decision to bring Logan in. Even Miyu deferred to him in her own way, and the human felt the weight of an unknown future bearing down on him starting with this one small offer.

He set his cards down, and reached forward to shake McCloud's paw.

"You can count on me," Logan said, and he meant it.

The evening wore on as the group enjoyed their time together, and in an almost indiscernible way, Logan felt them relax around him just the slightest tad. He topped up Miyu's drink for her, and laughed as she finished a joke about the Chemistry teacher.

_Home is where we make it_.


	8. Drumrun

**AN:** Thank you all for the feedback thus far, as always please feel free to let me know what you like, what you want to see more of, and any other questions or criticism you may have with the story.

* * *

**Drumrun**

* * *

**0958 Hours, Early Fall 7th, 1994 (Local Time) Corneria City, CDSS**

Logan rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and yawned for the third time that morning.

World Studies was certainly more interesting to him than the human equivalent, as Miss Cunningham detailed the various cultural differences between worlds in the Lylat System which were all new to the human exchange student. If last night hadn't gone on as long as it had he wouldn't be quite so tired.

Putting his hand up to answer a question about Papetoon's canine population, the wolfess teacher gave him a smile that forgave the drowsiness her most unusual student was trying to hide.

Watching Fara take the next question, he mused idly about the group of friends he'd been roped into. It was a little surprising how quickly he was able to forget the alien aspect of their species and just see the animal traits as another part of their personality, but perhaps that was because they were easier to relate to than the Covenant.

_The Covenant..._

Even now, memory of those darker days seemed somewhat unreal, like an old wound he'd been trying to forget. Jones scratched out some crosshatching on the page his stylus was highlighting.

Even disregarding the way he was from spending so much time moving around on starships, Logan struggled in connecting with his peers. Other humans of his generation were mostly of a similar disposition due to the circumstances of the great war, but over here in Lylat, there was a sort of peaceful normalcy that he intrinsically lacked.

He might say he was jealous, in a way. That they were whole and part of him was broken.

It was a thirst he felt to belong, that he never knew he had until Miyu and the others extended their friendship. There was no home for him back on Tribute, no longer a war to dedicate himself to with the UNSC. The fledgling partnership with the Cornerians offered some unique opportunities for humans now, if the rumors of war were to be believed, then the Lylat System was going to be the next frontline.

Jones palmed his stylus and relaxed to the sound of Miss Cunningham's voice.

They all had different skill sets; Fox and Falco the ace pilots, Miyu and Fay aiming for Interceptor roles, Slippy a brilliant Engineer, and Fara, Katt, and Bill excellent pilots in their own right, evidently. He was from soldier's stock, a ground fighter. Whatever was coming, he'd be there to keep them safe in his own way.

The bell rang, and blinking, Logan gathered up his things as he walked with the girls to the next period.

* * *

"So you actually own a scratching post?"

"Well yeah hun," Katt's chemistry vials were attentively filled with multicolored liquids as she answered her partner for the lesson, "It's a great stress reliever, and I use it in between manicures on my claws."

"Makes sense I guess," the human boy muttered as he took an offered vial and watched her mix the others.

"Have a good time last night sugar?" The pink feline spared a glance to smirk.

"Just because you and Miyu clean house in cards doesn't mean you have to rub it in, Monroe."

"Whatever you say hun, you should step up your game."

"Card sharks..."

She laughed, and as the vials turned a smokey green with an acidic odor, they started filling out the results on their tablets.

"What are you up to tonight?" Katt asked.

Jones shrugged as he began safely pouring out the chemistry lesson's vials. "Miyu wanted to swing by the VR training pods with Fox and Falco, and I promised to start showing them some rifle work later down at the range."

"Ohh, sounds fun. I was always more of a blaster girl myself."

"Come on by if you've got some time, maybe you can show me up."

The pink cat smirked again, "Something tells me you like us girls pushing you around."

Logan paused in his clean up and straightened up to stare Katt in the eye, his face an inch from her muzzle.

"You really want to find out kitten?" He asked huskily.

They stared each other down in mock seriousness before breaking down in laughter, and earning a glare from the chem teacher.

* * *

Lunchtime found Logan waiting in line through the cafeteria, taking a plate of what looked like Cornerian goulash(or some kind of more edible dog food) and some warm buns of quikbread, a mainstay in the easily produced spacing food industry.

He thought it strange at first, there being a fair amount of the sort of long shelf life food usually found on starships here in a school cafeteria, but it did make sense that the companies might sponsor the student meals for the advertising. Most of those same students would be serving amongst their biggest customers, and at least they tasted better than UNSC MREs. He'd never forget the misery of a lukewarm veggie omlette. Never.

He was just filling a glass with some milk when someone walked up to him.

"You're the new guy from human space, right?"

Jones turned to look at who was addressing him, and with mild surprise recognized the lupine Cornerian he was talking about yesterday with Fay.

"That's me, can I help you?"

The grey-furred teenager had the same jacket on as last time, and a borderline hostile look slapped on his muzzle. Logan regarded the flint chips of the teen's eyes with wariness, he looked like he could take care of himself well enough.

"You know anything about when they're opening up citizenship?"

Then, the hard look in the lupine's eye made sense, and Logan recognized another life touched by war. He resisted the inclination to ask why, out of courtesy.

"No exact date, but I don't mind answering a few questions if you've got them. C'mon."

The pair walked away from the lunch line with their trays, and the human was aware of a few whispers. Evidently the grey teen's reputation was frightening.

"Wolf O'Donnel," the Cornerian said when they sat down across from each other, "If you hadn't already heard."

Like yesterday, the lupine's rebellious attitude was apparent, and he certainly came off as abrasive enough you wouldn't make small talk. Of all the Cornerians he'd met thus far, except perhaps James, Logan recognized the wolf had seen his own share of violence and come out hardened by it.

"Logan Jones," replied the human teen neutrally.

"Hm." Satisfied he wasn't going to pointlessly probe or gossip, the wolf nodded, "So where in human space are you from?"

"The planet Tribute, it's part of what we call the Inner Colonies, a number of planets arranged close to our homeworld Earth. The further settlements are across planets in what we call the Outer Colonies. What exactly did you want to know?"

Wolf's poker face was excellent, while Logan might guess there was some history of war there, he couldn't figure anything else from the impassive lupine face.

"Its a new frontier for us, couple years and both sides of the galaxy are going to want someone from the other side as negotiators, consultants, mercs, you name it. I'm just getting started early."

Logan's eyebrows rose, "Smart enough, might be a lot of money in that kind of move if you make it earlier than most."

"You're here on some exchange, your group planning on throwing any of us their way?"

"Not that I know of yet, but its going to happen fairly soon." Jones ate a spoonful of the warm Cornerian goulash/kibble, and finding it nice and meaty despite the filler swallowed down some more with a torn corner of a bun, "I'm not important enough to have any say, but if they ask for volunteers I can pass your name along."

O'Donnel's muzzle relaxed just the slightest tad, and he nodded in affirmation. Logan got the impression he wasn't a person who asked anybody anything very often. The lupine dug into his own meal, and the two ate quietly with scattered conversation.

"You're from military roots, huh?"

"Brother is, stationed with some other advisors at the CDF HQ."

"Pilot? Soldier? POG?"

Logan snorted, "Okay, you heard that one from us for sure. No, he's a ground pounder."

Wolf bared a small toothy smirk, "Your lingo's pretty popular with the CDF lately, you'd think some of the boots around here came off the shuttle with you they spout it off so much."

"Some things never change, green guys over on our end do that too. Everyone thinks they're an expert." He stated with finger quotes.

O'Donnel made a dismissive snort, "Feh, that'll change when they end up on a two way range. Real quick."

Logan paused, and swirled the milk in his cup, staring into nothing.

"Yeah...it does..."

The pair were quiet then. It was unsaid, but both knew somewhat that the other had seen things. Neither saw the need to bring it up.

"What do you think of Venom planning an offensive in a few years?" Logan asked offhandedly.

The lupine kept eating, "Andross is cracked, but the people there are desperate enough to fall for whatever he sells them."

"How so?"

He snorted and pointed his fork at the human, "During the Macbeth civil war Venom was strip mined as part of the arms race between the powers involved, a proxy war, get it? After the hostilities they dumped their toxic waste material on the planet, only problem was there were a heck of a lot of displaced lizards living there. The surrounding region's sparsely populated but all together its a big number of nomad tribes who reproduce fast. Monkeys too."

Jones nodded, following along, "So it's a desperate situation because some higher ups neglected the details getting rid of radioactive trash. Figures."

"And now half the galaxy's leaning towards war. Makes no difference to me, a job's a job."

"No ties here, huh?"

Wolf shook his head, eyeing his plate.

"Hey there Lo."

The human and the lupine both looked up to find Miyu standing there with a bottle of soda in her paw and a guarded expression aimed at O'Donnel.

"Everything alright?"

"Psh," Wolf gathered up his tray and rose from the table, "Yeah, I'm outta here."

Miyu looked to Logan curiously, but he waved off her unspoken question. There was something personal in Wolf's interest to leave the system, and the human teen knew better than most those from a broken background don't share easily.

"Let's get going too, lunch is over."

* * *

That afternoon found Logan on the school's firing range, helping out like he'd promised to the gang.

"Building up muscle memory for the basic functions on your weapons is important because you'll still be able to go through your drills even when you're sleep deprived, or in a stress situation." The teenager was calmly explaining as the group of friends stood clustered at their own end of the line, other students scattered across the booths and the class's range officer watching the proceedings carefully. The sound of gunshots and laser fire made a staccato beat while the range-hot light burned red overhead.

Visually inspecting a loaded magazine, Logan slapped it into the magwell of an MA5C and shouldered the rifle.

"You can practice with one unloaded too, slowly. Once your body adapts to instictively carrying out the motions, keep practicing them occasionally, it's a perishable skill."

"Got that right," Fox muttered. The quip brought a chuckle out of them.

"As for the mechanics of good shooting, your body's position and hold on the weapon, as well as breathing and trigger control are all going to be the majority of how well your groupings stack up on target."

A single shot rang out, followed in sequence by two more.

"The further away your target is those small details will amplify how far you stray. While human weapon systems take ballistics into account, the nature of laser weaponry from what I've been told so far concerns the effective range of the beam before it's power decays."

Another series of shots rang out, and Logan hit the mag release and opened the bolt, visually inspecting the empty chamber. Setting the rifle down, he hit the results toggle for his target, displaying a small grouping center chest.

"It just takes long hours of practice, you'll become better shooters practicing these fundamentals rather than any fancy tactical courses. That isn't to say specialized training doesn't have its place, just that your base level of competence is what you fall to in a stress situation like a gun fight."

The others took turns in their booths firing off with both the human weaponry and the familiar Cornerian laser equivalents. Logan took the time to correct small errors and habits where he could.

"You know I was always more of a submachine gun girl myself," Miyu shouted over the din of Falco magdumping the BR55 Battle Rifle.

"Oh yeah? You prefer 'em compact for CQB?" Logan asked as he stood next to her.

The lynx smirked and elbowed him lightly in the side, "Actually I prefer them _big_."

Jones looked her in the eye dryly.

"_Right._"

Ignoring the sniggering kitty next to him, Logan looked over to Fay who was snapping off shots with an M6C slowly and methodically.

"Nice shooting Fay, try not to lock your elbows."

The white canine smiled brightly as she went through her unload drill, "Thanks Lo, these guns aren't so bad if you don't mind the smell and noise."

"I figure it'd be worse for you guys with the better senses."

"Well I'm not a pathfinder or anything, but my ears always were good. Part of why I'm still thinking about going into the music business, there was a talent scout that once said I've got the right voice for it, so-"

Logan smiled absently as the bubbly collie went on and on. It was kind of soothing actually, listening to her talk. After all that time on starships, hearing other people was a welcome change.

"Yeesh, we get it whitey, put a sock in it, will ya?"

Evidently Falco didn't agree.

Ignoring the clang of Fay attempting to brain Lombardi with a chair and the ensuing commotion from the RO, Logan moved over to Fox, who had alternated back to a heavy blaster and was getting some tight groupings.

"Great as usual McCloud," Logan admired the snap shot accuracy the vulpine had with his weapon, "You're a better shot than me."

Fox shook his head and humbly deferred, "Maybe with a sidearm, but you've got me beat with long rifles. I've also been practicing with one of these 'long as I can remember."

"Your dad, right?"

McCloud nodded, "Pays to have a merc in the family, you all learn how to shoot. My mother's actually better than most with a shotgun."

That brought a laugh out of Jones, "I bet your parents don't argue much if that's the case."

Patting Fox on the shoulder, he moved along to bring Slippy's elbow closer to his body in a corrective measure, and then found Fara at the far end of their spot on the line.

Quietly going through rounds on both the BR55 and a Cornerian designed marksman rifle, she'd improved a lot since they started their impromptu lesson, although the fennec was already an adequate shooter to begin with.

"Looking good Fara," the human said, "you're handling the recoil on our guns a lot better than the others."

"Thanks."

"Hey, you alright?"

The fennec sighed, and placing her empty weapon down, slumped.

"Just tired, things aren't going so great with my dad and the family business."

Logan's brow creased, and folded his arms over his chest as he listened to her.

"We're one of the companies that supplied made the ships that got hit recently, and while rumor has its Andross, competitors are taking the opportunity to say it was pirates and faulty equipment. Dad hasn't taken it well."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I don't think you need me to tell you, but everyone's here for you if you need us, alright?"

Fara looked up at him and smiled wanly, flicking one of her oversized ears.

"You should take your own advice, Logan."

Jones looked away.

"...yeah."

The light overhead changed to safe, and the range went safe. All along the firing line students began unloading and stowing their weapons, returning them to the racks under lock.

Still somber, both Logan and Fara were filing along behind the group, when Miyu hopped up behind them and hooked her arms around their necks.

"Cheer up you guys, we got something special planned tonight."

"Oh yeah?"

"MmmHmm, somekitten might have gotten a hold of some booze, and we were gonna head down to the quarry by my place for a fire and some good times. Sound good?"

"Getting liquored up for the weekend?" Fara asked unimpressed.

"C'mon girl, you need to loosen up. Else that lovely fur of yours will be grey before your time!"

"Why not," the two glanced at Logan who shrugged, "might be fun. You look like you could use some time off anyway, Phoenix."

"Fine," The fennec rolled her eyes with dramatic struggle, "But we better not wake up in a stolen hovercar again."

The human teen raised a brow at the smirking Lynx marching them along, "Dare I ask?"

"We work hard and we play hard dude," Miyu stuck out her tongue at him with a wink, "Just keep your pants on and don't let Slippy barf on you."

"What am I getting myself into?" both Logan and Fara mumbled in concert.

Laughing together, the friends walked off to their lockers, chatting about their day.

Had one of them glanced back, they might have seen a chimpanzee leaning against one of the open classroom doors, checking a pad that had a familiar face on it.

"Yeah that's him alright."

Snapping a discreet photo of the group from behind, the ape filtered off through the crowd of students being dismissed for the end of the day.


	9. Peril

AN: Thank you all for your continued interest in this story, please feel free to comment or mention if there's any more characters you want to see more often, or what you hope to see in the next few chapters. Things will be picking up from here on out.

* * *

**Peril**

* * *

_"If you didn't want your ass shot off, you shouldn't have stuck it out so far."_

_-Sgt Maj Avery Johnson_

* * *

**2041 Hours, Early Fall 7th, 1994 (Local Time) Corneria City, Outskirts**

"You know," Fox said before taking a swig of Miyu's discount moonshine and mix, "I think I can feel my insides burning off."

"I lost mine a few minutes ago," Logan replied with a grimace.

They were all clustered around a wood fire in a rocky dugout beyond the city limits. The trees were shuttering to and fro in the light breeze that night, yet both the gentle flames and the illicit booze were keeping the teenagers warm.

"Maaaaan this takes me back," Falco chimed in as he lay splayed on his back, "Nice breeze, stars overhead, and a couple drinks with ya' crew."

"Jeez Falco, you been drinking since you were 5?"

"Bite me furball."

"I'll bite someone alright!"

The boys scattered in mock terror as Miyu descended on them, snapping her short muzzle. After a brief scuffle Logan shuffled over and handed her his own cup of the strong booze, from which she swigged deeply.

"Hope you like it Lo, that's my 'welcome to Corneria' present for ya."

The human teen accepted his cup back from the smiling Lynx and downed the rest with his own grin.

"Damn...that burns good."

"That'll put some hair on your chest, you need it pal."

It was nice being able to unwind, and the close-knit group was a lively bunch. For the first time in forever, Logan felt like a wound spring inside him had finally come loose. He let the comforting lull of alcohol ease him down, and blinked as he noticed the Fennec girl staring at him across the crackling fire.

"Hey Fara, what's the matter?"

She smiled thinly and swished her own cup, finding something interesting in the flames to stare at.

"Logan... I don't wanna push, but maybe if you feel like talking about whatever's been eating you...I think we'd all be willing to listen."

The conversation died down, and Jones was suddenly aware of every twig and pebble poking into him off the quarry floor.

"I...don't know if anyone really needs to hear that."

A feathered blue hand gripped his shoulder, and the human turned to see an unusually serious Falco looking at him.

"Hey man, no one's gonna look down on you or nothin' for comin out of a bad place," the avian ran his fingers through his head plumage while looking away for a moment, "...like, I came off the streets, and some of that baggage is still dragging me down, ya know? Don't think nobody here's gonna spread your problems if you don't want them to."

Logan swallowed, staring at the bottom of his cup as the others regarded him. He wasn't used to having anybody to fall back on or talk to other than his brother. Maybe it was time to let it out.

He stared off into the fire, and began to revisit those painful memories.

"There's some things that haven't come out yet in the talks between the CDF and UNSC. A lot, actually...has to do with negotiating, security...but it's going to come out eventually, just...listen to what I have to say, and then you might understand."

He took a deep breath.

"More than thirty years ago, an unidentified ship was sighted near a remote colony of ours called Harvest. It didn't match anything we'd ever seen before, and didn't respond to communication. Contact was lost shortly after, and when the UNSC sent a battlegroup to investigate, they found that ship waiting there...and Harvest completely glassed."

"Glassed?" Slippy spoke up haltingly.

"The surface of the entire planet had been bombarded with plasma from orbit. Every person, the oceans, the atmosphere...all boiled away."

The Cornerians were staring now with wide eyes, that kind of devastation had never been heard of in Lylat.

"Oh gods..." Fara had her palm to her muzzle in horror, she'd never expected this.

"One message was broadcast to the battlegroup before almost all of them were destroyed. Saying they called themselves the 'Covenant,' and that our destruction was the will of their gods."

It came easier now, being able to let go and say it.

"From that point of first contact on, Humanity was at war. Our enemy couldn't be reasoned with, bargained with, or even surrendered to. They wanted only to wipe out every human life in existence, for some reason we didn't know. We fought them every inch of the way, but our weapons tech at the time...our ships, slipspace...even our numbers were all inferior. We had projectile cartridge guns, they had plasma; Our slipspace took weeks or months, theirs took hours or days; we were only human, they had several races among them, some twice our size..."

Mouths were still agape, he though he could hear Fay's breath hitch.

"Towards the end, we lost around 76 planets and more than 23 billion civilian and military lives. My home Tribute was destroyed some years ago. I was lucky enough to be a kid on one of a handful of evacuation ships."

Murmurs of disbelief, an emotional gasp farther back.

"There didn't seem to be a way for us to win. We couldn't stop them except by sheer tactical brilliance or million-to-one odds, and even then they'd just glass from orbit. Then came the invasion of Earth, our homeworld."

"It was a long battle. We threw everything we had left at them. I remember being just another scared kid with a rifle I found, taking cover as explosions and gunfire rained. For the most part they seemed more interested in digging something up in one of the planet's deserts. They hunted relics from some ancient space-faring civilization they worshipped, you see...Then some sort of portal opened up right out of the ground; The last great secret of some ancient species called the Forunners."

"There was some kind of civil war that erupted among the Covenant at that point. One of the races that had been killing us suddenly agreed to a temporary cease fire as they fought their old masters. What little marines and ODSTs were left got on the last ships we had space worthy, and went through the portal. The survival of our entire species was riding on those brave few. My brother was among them."

Logan closed his eyes.

"What happened, was a desperate gamble to beat the Covenant to this ancient failsafe that the Forerunners built to wipe out all life in our galaxy; It was meant as a way of preventing a terrible parasi-plague," Logan corrected quickly, and the slip up earned him a look from a more astute Lylatian among them, "that decimated them. It likely would have been the end of us, if it wasn't for the greatest soldier in our history being there to stop it."

Amidst all the pain the memories brought, Logan had to smile as he remembered what had given them all hope...what had made them _believe_.

"The Master Chief. Known mostly by his rank, and also his number 117, he was one of the best humanity had to offer; Part of the super soldier program we had known as the SPARTANS."

"They were faster, stronger, augmented better than any other human, and trained for years to a level that made their prowess on the battlefield more powerful than any weapon we could build. They had cutting edge armor that enhanced their strength, and that actually had energy shields. Something we'd never had before. However, even with all that...they still were whittled away one by one over the thirty years of war that decimated us, until the Master Chief was the last one."

"Leading the assault on the Forerunner structure we called the 'Ark,' the Chief and the leader of the Alien defector's faction killed the surviving Covenant leader, and set the structure to prematurely fire and rip itself to pieces. As the surviving marines and aliens were fleeing, the Master Chief was declared missing in action when his half of the spaceship he was on never came through the closing portal."

"So in the end, our species was saved from the crumbling edge of extinction. We began to rebuild, but the scars are still there. I don't like to talk about it much, because my home and my family...they're just another casualty on a mountain of others. That pain never really goes away, but at least I still have my brother alive, and that helps. Someday it'll be me on the firing line again, whatever the cause...and I will never let anyone else go through what I did. No more glassed planets, and no more broken families."

They were silent after he finished. Logan stared into the fire, unable to look up. There was a rustle of fabric, and he felt Miyu lean into him and wrap an arm around his shoulders, her face in his neck. Fara stepped in and hugged him with her muzzle against the side of his face, and then the others came. Hands reached out, and Logan felt them grip him as he was surrounded.

"We'll be with you every step of the way," came the serious promise from Fox.

"We got your back," Falco affirmed in his own gruff way.

"You can count on us," Slippy chimed in with a watery note.

"We'll look out for you now," Fay promised quietly.

"Should you need us, we'll be there," Fara chided, squeezing him.

"You're part of our family now," Miyu whispered with a wetness on his neck.

Logan felt something in his throat, and a burning in his eyes. He wanted to tell them, but the comforting presence remained, and they already knew what he'd meant to say. A weight had been lifted off his back, and a wound long ignored finally salved.

Something happened there between the friends. A bond was made, and though they'd known this link for a short time, their futures were now inexorably connected...and a difference had been made that would be felt forever.

"My friends..." Logan whispered.

"Thank you..."

* * *

**0632 Hours, Early Fall 8th, 1994 (Local Time) Corneria City, CDSS**

The next morning was a painful hangover for everyone involved.

Sitting through classes with a saw going through their skulls was torture, but the booze had been cheap and they certainly got their money's worth out of it. Catherine and Kyle were a bit exasperated at Miyu coming home so late with their Human boarder reeking of alcohol, but they said nothing and waved the teens along to bed. Having suffered through the school day dealing with the after effects, Logan was definitely ready to go home and melt into a couch."

"Hey Jones!"

Turning to look, the human teen waved back at the vulpine coming through the busy hallway to meet him.

"Hey McCloud, what's going on?"

Fox sidestepped an otter as he came up to talk, hitching his pack back over a shoulder.

"Everyone's coming over for a study session before the midterms, can you and Miyu make it?"

Logan nodded, "I don't think she's got other plans, I'll let you know by lunch, alright?"

"Sure thing. Still owe you a flight sim tutorial, by the way."

"Somehow I doubt flying's going to be my strong suit..."

"I wouldn't worry, even Slippy's improved over time."

The friends parted ways at their first classes, and Logan settled into his usual seat next to Fay in Miss Cunningham's first period classroom.

"You look tired Lo, Miyu keep you up last night?" The cheerful collie poked him as he slumped in his chair.

"Marathon'd half the Fireflies series, I swear she wants to be a carbon copy of Zoe, that coyote gunslinger was just like her. Don't know why we just _had_ to watch it then, even after getting in at stupid o' clock and piss drunk." Jones rubbed at his eyes, grumbling as the upbeat white canine giggled.

"It's her favorite series, she'll probably drag you out to watch it again."

"This is what I get for being half-adopted by feral cats, right?"

"_Careful human, our girls have claws._"

Logan slapped the back of his neck where a tiny cut had stung him, turning to mock glare at Katt Monroe innocently twirling a lock of her hair.

"I don't imagine your boyfriends last long, Monroe."

"Nope, but they taste good."

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up."

They flipped open their class materials as Miss Cunningham took to the front of the classroom, beginning her lesson on EM Drives, and the concept behind faster than light travel.

"By the way," Logan whispered to the girls, "Fox is hosting again tonight, come when you're free."

"Should I tell Fara?" Fay asked quietly, her normally cheery eyes in a slight frown.

The human teen nodded, "She should come, no reason to keep avoiding everyone just because there's something awkward between her and McCloud. They can work that out themselves."

"That's _just_ what I was telling her yesterday, I mean...It's silly they're acting like someone _died_ when it was just a breakup-"

"_Miss Spaniel,_" came the admonishing voice of the wolfess teacher, "If you're going to talk in my class keep it down to a considerable level for your classmates."

Logan stared ahead impassively as Fay wilted to the tips of her ears amid muffled laugher from the rest of the class.

* * *

They were walking to Fox's house.

It was a nice day, and while the girls were chatting about some pop idol, Falco and Bill argued over a recent drag race, Logan closed his eyes and let the sun warm him. Just being in their company felt good.

The teen's many different feet padded over the driveway, while Fox knocked on the door before they went in. Noticing one missing, the white collie turned around to see their resident alien once again peering under the rim of a hovercar.

"Why do you always do that Lo?" Fay piped up.

The human was kneeling by the McCloud's hovercar, peering along the underside of the rim.

"Yeah, you did it back at my place too," Miyu mentioned, "Looking for roadkill?"

"No..." Logan shook his head, "Force of habit you see. I..."

Whatever he was going to say dwindled off, and his brow creased.

"Fox..."

The vulpine looked over to him from the front door, "What's the matter?"

"_Fox get your dad right now._"

There was an urgency in Logan's voice they'd never heard before. Fox rapped on the door again, and Fara was about to step over when Logan harshly told them to keep back.

The door opened, and the group parted as James McCloud stepped through with his customary shades and a white tee over his fit chest.

"What's going on kiddo?" There was no confident smirk on the older vulpines muzzle now. Just a serious inclination of his brows.

"I need you to take a look at this." The teen replied.

James dropped into a pushup next to the human, and after a moment his lips pursed into a deathly serious line with a hint of a fang.

"You see that?"

"Yeah," McCloud's voice was icy calm. He looked over his shoulder at his son, "Fox, get your mother out of the house. One of you call the police, ask for the EOD _right now._"

Slippy's eyes had gone even wider if possible as he connected the dots first, "You mean...?"

The older fox let out a breath, turning to Logan, "How'd you find it?"

"Back home, rebels used to put them underneath out of sight. We got used to checking regularly."

"Put what? What's going on?" Fay was put off by the sudden serious turn, looking to Miyu who could only shrug.

James McCloud stared angrily at the blinking red LED on the unfamiliar shape clamped onto his family's car.

"Someone planted a bomb."


	10. Regret

AN: Thank you all for the continued interest in the story. As always, feel free to comment, review and pm me if there's anything you'd like to see in later chapters.

* * *

**Regret  
**

* * *

**0710 Hours, Early Fall 9th, 1994 (Local Time) Corneria City, Outskirts**

Logan flipped the eggs in the pan, watching the sizzle of butter cook the yolk. He cracked some pepper over the mix and eased a spatula underneath to flip it neatly for a few seconds before easing the omelet out of the pan onto another waiting plate. Beside him, Kyle Lynx was humming along as he fried some of those not-bacon meat strips he'd seen before, a food Jones later learned was from one of the non-sentient cattle in Lylat.

It was a quiet morning, and if Miyu chose to share what happened at the McCloud's residence he didn't know. The explosive ordinance disposal team with the police handled the car bomb, and the teenagers left early so forensics could work in peace.

It was a sobering reminder that conflict among their different galaxies was still very much universal. Insurrectionists had often favored hidden explosives, and if the bad guys in Lylat were anything to go by their Milky Way equivalent, then targeting a war hero and his family would be expected.

_'No,'_ Logan mused to himself, _'Not bad guys...innies thought they were in the right too...'_

It was no great secret that before the Human Covenant war, rebels wanted independence from the UNSC, and many in the inner colonies never saw the point in keeping them if it meant so many terrorist attacks. The awkward details of supplying a galaxy with food and raw materials, however, escaped most of the populace that didn't bother to think about why the UNSC had to crack down. In a way, perhaps the Venomians with this Andross character were fighting for their own reasons.

Logan placed the omelets on the table and arranged the cutlery while Kyle finished up.

Regardless of what the enemy's rationale might have been, they were targeting those close to him, and now they'd have to brush aside all feelings of sympathy and defend their homes. That was the sorry nature of war.

"You alright kit?"

The human looked up to see Miyu's father looking at him with concern, and so he wiped away the serious look on his brow and smiled thinly.

"Just thinking about the McClouds, wonder how they're taking it."

"Hmm..." The older feline's face hardened, "I heard about that. Going to be tough for them, but James is a wily one. They should be alright."

He pat the human teen on his shoulder reassuringly, "Don't worry about these things too much, just be a good friend to Fox and that'll do him a lot of good."

Logan nodded, and moved to pour some milk as Kyle called down the rest of the family. If there was one thing cats loved, it was their milk to drink. Some things never change.

* * *

As fetching as Miss Cunningham's tail end was, Logan's mind drifted to the attempted car bomb at the McCloud household.

James looked every bit the capable veteran, but the human teenager caught the shaken look in the older vulpine's eyes. He'd seen marines go through the same when things went FUBAR unexpectedly. Knowing you're going up against long odds was one thing, but having your family at risk would shake just about anybody.

Fox wasn't taking it so well either.

The normally collected young leader of their impromptu group was more intense than usual, and the casual banter with Lombardi was absent during class.

In a selfish moment of jealousy, he felt desertion that the Cornerian was so moody when he still had his family intact. See him walk out of a glassing with only memories and how would he like some real tragedy then?

The teenager shook his head and banished the thought, the Lylatians had nothing to do with his losses, no point in being angry about it.

As the bell rang, he fell into step next to Fay, who had been silent for an unusual amount of time.

"What's wrong?" Logan prompted the white canine.

She looked at him guiltily, fluffy ears limp. While Fay was a cheerful soul, the welfare of her friends was very important to her, and the current circumstances were a bit more serious than interpersonal drama like Fox and Fara's spat.

"I guess you know, looks like it's on your mind too Lo," Spaniel mumbled quietly.

"They're still alive, that's what matters."

"But they would have been dead if you didn't look. Fox's whole family could be in the ground now and it's only because you were around and have that weird habit that they're still here!" There was a tinge of hysteria in the girl's tone.

Logan stopped where they were in the hall and put his hands firmly on her shoulders. The white canine stared at him with wide eyes.

"_They're still with us._" He said solemnly, "We're going to face this threat together, do your best and have faith in your friends. Whatever happens, happens."

Fay looked down and nodded, comforted somewhat by the reassuring gesture. At a cough from a passing dog, the pair separated from their suggestively intimate pose.

"I'll see you at the range later, alright?" Logan waved, and a smile crossed the collie's muzzle at last.

"You bet!"

* * *

The basic fundamentals of marksmanship were more important than any gear ever could be. A soldier's ability to effectively engage the enemy at a distance stemmed almost entirely from the simple basics that any farmboy could hone with a rodent rifle.

When taking exponentially longer ranges into account, such as those at the business end of an S2 sniper rifle, even the smallest deviations would magnify where the round landed. A missed shot at over a thousand yards because of improper breathing or a minute flinch were inexcusable when the stakes were high.

Currently, Logan was stretched out on a mat staring through a spotting scope as Lombardi tried his _wing_ at the UNSC's version of long range small arm.

A deafening crack echoed in the school's range, and a vapor trail lanced out to the holographic targets set up 600 meters distant. While not the usual capability of the S2 AM rifle, Logan didn't really expect Falco to be matching UNSC sharpshooters just yet, and even he had difficulty at the 1000m mark even in benchrest with his brother coaching him. It took a lot of practice to hone that skill.

"Dang, this thing's got a heck of a punch."

The avian's grimace betrayed the harsh recoil of the anti-materiel rifle. Originally designed to punch through even vehicles, the high caliber weapon had been employed to excellent effect against shielded targets like Elites.

"You should see the other guy," Logan replied drolly while looking at a figure target marked by the round. He doubted there would be much of a torso left after 14mm Sabot went through it.

"I'm still drifting though man, didn't have this problem with lasers..."

The human frowned through the scope as he considered Falco's complaint, remembering he wouldn't be as familiar with bullet drop.

Kinetic rounds are effected by aerodynamics and gravity, don't forget.

"Yeah yeah, just compensate for it, right?"

"Doing it by instinct won't be nearly enough, while your lasers are line of sight, they deteriorate in effective strength at certain distances. Think of ballistics the same way, but sloping downwards as the bullet loses it's inertia. Humidity, wind and air density all change how the round is affected by drag, and you dial the windage and elevation knobs on your optic to compensate and pinpoint where the bullet will land with your crosshairs. Long term you'd be using a data book tailored to your weapon and ammo and/or a ballistic computer with a weather gauge for wind and humidity."

"Gives me a head ache just thinking about that mess."

"That's long range marksmanship for you, half math half surgical muscle memory."

The blue avian ran a hand through his headfeathers, "Ya think it'd be easier to point and click."

Logan looked at the expression on Falco's face that reminded him of Fay, and he shut off the holo targets in their lane and collapsed the tripod on his spotting scope.

"What's on your mind?"

"That obvious, huh?"

"Fay was in the dumps earlier too."

"Yeesh..."

The human stayed silent as he gave the feathered Cornerian time to think. A moment later, Falco looked at him with a scowl marring his beak.

"It aint right. Those Venom lowlifes almost took out my best friend and his family and nobody's doing anything. Don't it seem weird that someone cozy with Venom could get _all the way_ here and hide a bomb on the McCloud's ride?"

Logan arched an eyebrow, "What are you saying Lombardi?"

He leaned in closer and muttered only loud enough for the two of them to hear, "I'm sayin somebody who knows Fox's old man must have put that bomb there."

Logan didn't way anything right away, but looked across the range to make sure they weren't being eavesdropped.

"Look, I'm new here and don't know how things run in Lylat, but what makes you so sure it's someone who knows James? Why couldn't some Venomian have followed him and done it?"

Lombardi's blue wing finger stabbed towards the mat as he growled out his explanation, "There's neighborhood security that has the streets on cam, no signs and no tampering. Only way some guy coulda put a bomb there is if they could have done it in the garage after they came over."

"Wait, you mean like a friend? Wouldn't James know?"

"He still thinks it was slipped on somewhere else and just hadn't gone off yet, but maybe he doesn't want to know who really did it?"

"Why the hell not?"

In a moment of startling clarity, Lombardi hardly looked like the brash street thug he seemed, a knowing glint in his sharp eyes.

"Cause if it's someone Fox's old man knows personally, maybe he doesn't want to consider they'd double cross him. Coulda been a buddy from the air force, or who knows. Cash makes some guys do stupid things..."

He turned to the human teen with a fire in his eyes.

"So lets find the wiseguy dumb enough to go after one of ours."

_One of ours._

Logan nodded, and the pair of them started to pack up before the end of weapons class.

"Oh, and buddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Just between you, me, and who I got to help us out, alright? Fox don't need to know, he wouldn't want us risking our necks on his account. Guy's funny that way."

"You got it."

* * *

Their clandestine investigation started after school. Logan waved off Miyu saying he was going to hang back with Falco for the day, and the two of them hung back in the parking lot where Lombardi's hoverbike was parked. Jones was still longingly starstruck by the advanced motorcycles. They could be adjusted for hover and traction, so rather than a floaty coast across the ground would hug the streets and turn on a dime. He forced himself not to think about the spill you'd take at the higher sensitivities where only a few millimeters kept the bottom from carving the pavement.

"Hey guys!"

With a start, Logan watched as Falco waved over none other than Fay Spaniel, who'd been moping earlier that day.

"_You're_ the third in our little hunt?" Jones asked haltingly.

"What's the matter? Y'think girls can't hack it on the tech side?" The collie asked playfully with a hand on her hip.

"I would have pegged Slippy for the tech support on this one..."

"But Slip can't keep his mouth shut," Falco groused as he started his engine.

_'Flies'_ mouthed Fay, making Logan snort with a suppressed laugh.

The human rode shotgun on the back of Falco's bike, while Fay took her own scooter with a bright pink color scheme. Winding through the downtown of Corneria City, Logan took in the sites of the alien culture that was populated by the unusual sight of almost-human animal people. Hair stylists that advertised claw trimmings flashed by, restaurants that featured a few cultural dishes similar to human's were seen, a red vixen cop with a mane of blue hair and impressive bust stalked a sidewalk, and when both human and bird noticed the other staring they shared a chuckle.

They arrived at Falco's pad. He lived alone in student housing normally meant for orphans. If there was some family dispute in the picture, Logan chose not to ask about it.

Going inside, they were greeted by the typical lair of a teenage bachelor. Pop cans everywhere, a pile of dirty laundry, racing magazines scattered on the couch and some posters of scantily clad bird girls posing on the wall. Apparently these no longer phased Fay since she made no comment other than pointedly ignoring them.

Snatching a cold can of soda that Falco tossed him, Logan took a seat next to the white collie on the couch as she booted her laptop terminal. Like the human counterparts, they were a compact computer used for daily needs and net access. Fay's came in pink..._surprisingly._

"So what's the plan?" Jones took a swig of the cola.

"We're gonna double check the security footage around the McCloud's house, if the police have already canvassed the area there might be something they missed that we'd see out of the ordinary since we come over so often," Fay replied.

"Hard to believe we'll find something the cops didn't," the human muttered, "You think it's something hidden in plain sight?"

Fay cracked a grin, "That, or Vixy was really sick of James leaving the seat up."

"Alright," she said slowly, "let's look up the street's vid logs for the past week."

How she'd got an in to the city's security cams in that neighborhood Jones didn't know, but they quickly came up with a list of marked times that denoted movement at the McCloud residence. Browsing through the still-frames of each one, they tallied up a handful of people other than Fox's family.

"We've got Grey's dad, the academy flight instructor Cooper, Peppy Hare, Pigma Dengar, and James' cousin Fred Wilde."

"So if we cross reference their visiting times with whether the car was in the garage or not we can narrow it down," Logan mused.

"Right."

Scrolling through the footage revealed the only ones at the house while the car was out of sight were Peppy and Pigma.

"Sheesh, no wonder McCloud won't bother..." Falco muttered as the laptop's screen painted their faces in fluorescent blue.

"Why, who are those two?" Logan asked.

Fay shook her head, ears flopping slightly, "They're his teammates, James McCloud leads the Star Fox mercenary team. He'd never dream of suspecting his team of this kind of thing."

"So are we barking up the wrong tree?" The saying might have been unfamiliar to the Cornerians, but the got the gist of it.

The white collie laid back into the plushy couch, sighing.

"Maybe we should let the police handle it, how are we supposed to find something they won't? They've probably already covered of all this."

"Maybe look where they won't bother lookin, like those two?" Lombardi snapped angrily.

"They were in the Academy together Falco, neither would betray James!"

Logan ignored the back-and-forth between the frustrated pair, staring at the two names on Fay's screen.

"Hey, if there's any chance it was one of these two, they must know that the bomb didn't work, right?"

Fay raised a brow and looked at Jones quizzically, "Yes?"

"And if they haven't been detained, do you think they'd try again?"

Falco scowled, not liking where this was going, "What's your point, man?"

Logan turned to the collie and the avian, "What could motivate either of these two longtime friends of McCloud's to betray him? Is it a hell of a lot of money, or coercion like holding a family member hostage?"

"Well," Fay mumbled, "Pigma doesn't have any family, and Peppy lost his wife some years back. He's got a daughter, but she's in college."

"Either of them have problems with money?"

Falco's scowl only deepened, "I know Pigma hangs around some of the betting joints outta town, heard word some time back he owes the bookies for losing big on the races again."

"So he's in debt. That's a possible motive, and how much do you think Venom might pay to have McCloud out of the picture?" Jones asked rhetorically.

Fay's eyes widened.

"Oh gods... they're supposed to be visiting tonight to see if he's ok!"

Falco's hackles rose, feathers awry as he pushed off the couch to his feet, "Damn it! If Pigma's really the guy he might try and ice 'em before he leaves!"

Spaniel lept to her feet, snarling at the two boys.

"Don't just stand there! We're going to Fox's place and _step on it!_"

Racing past the laundry and the soda cans, the three teenagers hurried to the parking lot, hoping they weren't too late.

* * *

"You're being ridiculous!"

The normally collected James McCloud had a visible grimace over his shades. Clearly the threat to his family had hit him where it matters, and the normally unshakeable pilot was visibly perturbed. The fact three teenagers had burst in accusing one of his friends of trying to kill him must not have helped.

"He owes the bookies and Venom woulda payed all the cash in the world to see you gone!" Falco was incensed.

"Fer...I'm _right here_ kid!" Pigma Dengar was visibly angry over the gambling coming to light, but stayed out of the argument.

"All we're saying is that the bomb could have been easily placed there when Pigma was over, and he had a reason to do it," Logan stated more calmly, though James looked even more upset at that than Falco's outburst.

"I think all of you need to calm down," Peppy Hare finally spoke, a more gentle voice of reason in the heated room, "None of this shouting is going to get us anywhere."

The hare looked over his reading glasses at the white collie between the two boys, "Now what's got you so sure Pigma is to blame? Hmm?"

Spaniel gulped, and averted her eyes as she explained their accusations, "Y'see Mr Hare... We wanted to check the street cam footage for anyone that might have been over when the hovercar was out of sight. Then we figured out Pigma also owed a lot of money to some bookies, and it seemed like a good reason he might take the money if Venom offered it."

Peppy sighed, and downing the last of the sherry he'd been drinking stared over his glasses at Pigma.

"Well Dengar? What's the gambling about?"

The chubby pilot averted his eyes, and let out an exasperated breath.

"Dang it Peppy old buddy, you know I'm not like you guys. I don't got no family, an women don't like me neither, so I eat n' drink myself stupid an hit the races."

He threw out a thick arm angrily, "So I lost all my last pay an now the bookies got me in debt. Am I gonna come blabbing here bout it? Hell no. It's my problm an I aint draggin you guys into it."  
Peppy nodded slowly through out the diatribe, and then looked over at the teens.

"You know, adults often have their own problems, and just because one of us is doing something foolish doesn't mean they're a villain for it. Just because Mr. Dengar lost a lot of cash doesn't mean he's likely to take Venom's blood money."

Chastised, the teenagers felt a bit stupid having come full of anger to the household. They looked at each other awkwardly before mumbling apologies. Falco blew a frustrated breath through his clenched beak, and Logan had the shame to feel like an interloper once more.

"I'm sorry Mr. Dengar, and Mr. McCloud," The human teen spoke for the group, "We were worried about Fox, but we shouldn't have jumped the gun like this."

James sighed, crossing his arms.

"It's alright kit, I'm not going to grill you for looking out for my son."

They got ready to leave the house, and Fay approached Pigma herself to apologize.

"I'm really sorry about this Mr. Dengar. It was wrong of us to come in accusing you."

The porcine pilot grinned widely and waved her off.

"Ehh, don't mention it kid. I don't look like no hero anyways, heh heh heh."

Fay smiled at the pig's self depreciating joke.

"Are you going to be alright with the bookies? Falco said those gambling dens can be pretty rough."

"No worries kid, I already paid em off, so those thugs won't be botherin me anymore."

"Oh, did you?"

Suddenly, the clue eyes of the cheerful collie were chips of ice, her voice sharp and accusatory, "Where did you get the money to pay them off Pigma?"

The room was quiet, frozen as the group was caught off guard by Spaniel's demand. Pigma's beady eyes widened, and he opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"You said you gambled away all of your last mission pay," the canine girl hissed, "You'd owe them a lot more than you could earn even flying a sortie with Star Fox, so where'd that cash come from?"

There was a bead of sweat on Pigma's forehead, and his hands rubbed together as he fidgeted.

"You know what I think?" Fay asked with a deceptively sweet lilt, "I think if we checked your personal accounts you'd be pretty rich right about now. You mind showing us? Unless you've got something to hide that is..."

"I...look, I ain't... I _didn't_..." Pigma Dengar tried to blubber an excuse, but he just couldn't find the words to explain himself.

"Pigma..." James didn't raise his voice, but there was something else underneath his tone that didn't sound like the dashing pilot they knew.

Dengar had evidently seen that too, as he flinched and with a shaky hand whipped out his sidearm from the holster on his thigh.

"It ain't like that James!" He warbled as the sights lined up with the icy-faced vulpine, "I ain't a traitor, it _ain't like that!_"

"Then maybe you better explain yourself pig." McCloud's voice was steel, and it seemed he might very well ignore that pistol in front of his face.

"It was too good..." Dengar wheezed out, sweating even as he held the room at gunpoint, "Money was too good. I needed it, I ain't never going back to the streets. I just wanted the money, I didn't do it cause I hated you buddy..."

"What's going on?!"

The gun swiveled to Fox, standing at the living room door. He'd just come back from Bill's place, not expecting to find a stand off in his own house.

"You're comin with me kid." Dengar bit out with wild eyes.

"The _hell _he is!" James had his canines visible, only held back by Peppy.

"You think i'm gonna chance it gettin off planet now? Hah!" Dengar edged across the room while carefully keeping the gun in their direction, "Your kid's gonna make sure you don' shoot my tail off fore I'm good and gone, heh heh."

"No."

The eyes in the room turned to Logan as he spoke out then.

"Take me instead."

"Dude what are you doing?" Falco demanded. Fay stared at him with worry.

"I'm more valuable as a hostage, you know that. UNSC would make it an incident if anything happened, no one would shoot at you." The words evidently convinced the cornered pig, who nodded, and gestured for him to stand by the doorway.

"Yeah...yeah, that's good. Alright kid, you then."

Logan ignored the protests from the Cornerians in the room. He looked across Fox's desperate face demanding to be taken instead, James and Peppy furiously looking on as they couldn't stop him, Fay's quivering lip, and Falco almost vibrating with rage he couldn't get his wings on the pig.

"Let me give you my comm unit so you know I can't call anyone," Logan offered quietly.

"That's right kid give it here..."

Pigma had the pistol pointed at James chiefly, still struggling with Peppy. To the side, Logan put his hand to the small of his back, face blank, and smoothly withdrew the M6 pistol to press it under Pigma's chin.

The gunshot was deafening. Kinetic weapons were so much louder than the sound of a laser discharging, and the effect of the round blasting through Pigma's skull painted the McCloud household's wall with a grisly mess.

The body keeled over, the hand holding the pistol limply splayed across the carpet. Logan stared down at the dead Cornerian, removing his finger from inside the trigger of the pistol.

"Death always to traitors."

Falco was one of the first to snap out of it, whistling.

"Stone cold, man."

It was in hindsight then, as everything passed as a bit of a blur, that Logan realized while they knew Pigma had been paid by Venom to kill McCloud, they didn't know who he was working with here on Corneria.

So who had paid him? And would they try again?


	11. Outskirts

**Outskirts**

* * *

**0900 Hours, Early Fall 12th, 1994 (Local Time) Corneria City, CDSS**

* * *

Logan sat alone in the CDSS cafeteria.

It had taken some time to wrap things up with the police and the Public Security section, but as the incident was tied to possible foreign powers it became a more serious investigation. Classified didn't begin to cover this level of planetary intrigue.

Needless to say ONI got their own briefing out of the teenager that reminded him why all the armed forces hated the spooks.

He sighed, and stirred the mashed potato-like mixture on his plate. Similar to human staples, many of the Lylat equivalent were still an alien twist from what he knew.

Miyu was giving him a wide berth, and he didn't bother to approach the others to see if the trend held. It was hard, but he tried to accept that they were still strangers to this kind of violence. Here in Lylat, children didn't have to be familiar with gunfire and blood.

He wished that were the case back home.

Logan certainly didn't take pride in having shot Pigma. On top of being an impulsive move that cost them a valuable source of intel, it wasn't easy to swallow the concept of having killed another living being. The Covenant were a different story.

Or maybe they weren't, and he'd merely been starting to accept Cornerians as similar to his own kind.

There was a scrape of a chair, and he looked up to see the delinquent O'Donnell taking a seat across from him.

"You look like shit." Was the lupine's brusque statement before digging into his own plate.

Jones snorted, and looked back at his unappetizing meal.

"It's been rough."

"Heard something happened at the McCloud's pad...funny rumors about that too."

Logan looked up to meet Wolf's inquisitive gaze. The lupine stared back, and finding some hint returned to his food.

"Figured you had that look about you."

"That obvious?" the human asked.

"I know it when I see it."

Logan recalled Wolf's parents had been rebels in the Macbeth civil war from what Fay had told him. He chose not to comment, though suspected the other teenager might have seen things himself.

"They won't understand, they can't. It's not their fault, they just don't know what it's like."

Wolf's statement hung in the air, until Logan relented his own thoughts.

"I don't blame them for backing off, why would anyone want to stick around a guy they'd seen do that?"

O'Donnell growled as he put aside his soda, and stared the human down.

"Look, I ain't one for speeches, but you did the right thing. I've been there, having eyes on me like I'm a murderer. You did what was right, and the rest of the galaxy can go to hell if they think you wrong for it. Stick to your guns no matter what the world throws at you."

Jones looked back at the serious lupine, and relented his self-pity.

"Thanks, O'Donnell."

"Don't mention it."

He looked up at the time on a holo-display with a weary expression.

"Screw this, I'm getting drunk. You want to come with?"

Wolf leaned back and shrugged.

"Whatever, I never liked classrooms anyway."

The two got up and left the cafeteria, and Logan felt a weight leave his shoulders as at least one other person understood where he was coming from.

* * *

They were sitting on top of an apartment building overlooking the spaceport. The dying rays of the system's sun burned orange across the sky as ships rose into the black above. Logan took a swill of the lager he'd managed to scrounge with Wolf, still cold from its refrigeration storage.

"Ships been arriving all day."

"More than usual anyways," Wolf spat a toothpick out of his maw and watched it arc into the void below.

"Sometimes I wonder if all those kids back at the academy know what they're getting into with the service," Jones mused.

"I hear ya."

"Not to sound like a prick, but it's not easy killing a man, or watching your friends die. Even coming to grips with yourself being on the firing line, your own life in danger, it sobers you up real quick."

"Depends why they do it." O'Donnell was still staring after the toothpick, lost in thought.

The human teenager took a sip, thinking about his time toward the end of the Human Covenant war, and his brother being the only link he had left to family. He thought of everything he'd lost, and a home that didn't exist anymore, and felt that conviction inside him to take his place amongst the bulwark defending others from harm.

"Why are you here, Wolf?" he asked the lupine, "What are you fighting for?"

O'Donnell frowned staring up into the horizon.

" I want to be free fighting on my own two feet...but most of all I know what it's like to lose everything, I'm going to do my part to make sure that doesn't happen to anyone else."

Logan nodded, understanding the sentiment, "Your folks were in the civil war, weren't they?"

The lupine gave a bittersweet grin.

"May have been the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one."

The human looked over to the wolf with a grin of his own, "I know the feeling."

The clinked beer cans together, and shared a drink. It was good for the soul to understand another in such a situation, and having been broken but unbowed, the two teenagers found peace settle in their old wounds.

"Hey Lo," came a soft voice from behind.

The pair turned to see Fara Phoenix standing at the access door to the apartment roof.

"Hey Fara," Logan replied with some confusion.

"The others asked me to come see if you're alright," she said with a concerned look at O'Donnell, "How are you taking things?"

Wolf caught the look Fara turned his way, and was getting up to leave when Logan put his hand assuredly on his shoulder.

"Just having a drink with Wolf, trading war stories." The human sighed and threw out his empty can, "I feel better, and I don't blame the others for being scared off."

Fara nodded, and relaxed somewhat, "That's good."

Taking a cue, Logan spoke up again.

"Fara, this is Wolf O'Donnell. Wolf, this is Fara Phoenix." At the very least he could still be polite in such a circumstance.

"Nice to meet you," the fennec smiled.

Wolf's cleared his throat and crossed his arms, "Yeah, likewise."

"Anyway," Logan checked the time on his TACPAD, "It's getting late, so let's head back."

"The others are having a meal down at Louie's Place, you want to come?"

"Did they ask you to bring me along?" Logan asked carefully.

The fennec nodded resolutely.

Pausing for a moment, the human turned to O'Donnell.

"Come with us man."

The lupine looked from the alien teenager to the fennec girl with an uncertain frown.

"Look, I aint barging in where I'm not wanted..."

Fara stepped forward and placed her own paw on his shoulder.

"It's not like that. You're welcome to come join us, and you were there for one of ours when things were bad."

She smiled, "You're a good guy deep down."

O'Donnell scowled with a canine visible, and relented with a sigh.

"Whatever."

Fara and Logan shared a look of understanding, and the tree of them left the sight of the sunset behind.

* * *

Louie's Place was a pilot bar first and foremost.

While not the most haute cuisine, you could get everything from greasy chow to tacky tropical drinks there, but it was fondly loved by all the pilots that frequented the slightly run-down bar. An orangutan in a tropical shirt swung along with drinks balanced precariously, greeting familiar faces as he went.

Off in the corner, the close-knit group of McCloud and his gang had a conversation over regular soft drinks. Having come so often with some of their parents who flew, they were more the unspoken exception than the rule.

Their booth was approached, and Fox looked up along with the others at the three walking over.

"Good to see you Logan," McCloud said evenly. The human and vulpine looked at each other, and seeing sincerity in his eyes Logan nodded. There wasn't any ill will over the incident in the McCloud household.

"What's he doing here?" Falco interrupted brusquely.

There was a tense moment as O'Donnel faced the group, but Jones spoke up on his behalf.

"I invited him, we had a chat earlier. He's a good guy."

Lombardi looked over the fellow delinquent with a dubious eye, and then shrugged.

"I'll take ya word for it, pull up a chair."

They sat down together. Logan looked up as Miyu scooted over wordlessly next to him, her slitted pupils catching his with a note of apology in her look. He smiled back at her and pat her paw reassuringly, and she in turn gave his hand a squeeze.

They got some soda for the new arrivals, and in short order a pizza was divided on the table as the group broke bread together in their own way.

"So what's the word on that race you guys were in on?" Slippy piped up with a bite of cheese and pepperoni.

Falco squawked a laugh, "Those east side chumps can't cash what their mouths run, we had 'em at a 4 second lead."

Fox chuckled next to him, "They'll try again in a month alright..."

Bill Grey had his arm around Fay, and the two were mostly ignoring the rest in their own lovey-dovey bubble that had Katt make an exaggerated gag. The pink feline herself fell into an animated conversation with Miyu about the latest holo-series the two were watching.

Fara, oddly enough ended up chatting with Wolf about cooking. It turns out O'Donnell was an able hand at the culinary arts himself, though you'd never think it looking at him. It was an interesting sight seeing the 'dangerous' lupine having a laid back conversation about pasta.

Taking in the atmosphere and chiming into the talk himself, Logan felt his troubles melt away. Some small part of him had been expecting the group to cut him off after such an event, but they were surprisingly mature for their age. He had to admit it was a relief to be accepted somewhere, and for the first time he could remember he was starting to feel a sense of belonging.

"Sooo, what were you two having a chat about?" Katt Monroe asked with a salacious grin.

Logan glanced over with a quirk to his brow, "Just some old war stories over a beer, why?"

The pink feline narrowed her eyes in a Cheshire smile, "Awwww, how cute."

The human looked over at Wolf who had a similar deadpan look. O'Donnel shrugged.

"Women."

Fara smacked his arm lightly, and the table shared a laugh.

"Hey, I still owe you a flight lesson, alright Jones?" McCloud mentioned.

Logan nodded, and raised his glass to the vulpine.

"We'll all go shooting sometime too, count on it."

Miyu perked up and turned to her adopted alien roommate.

"Speakin' of which, there's going to be a CTF tournament at the school. One of the sim leagues, we were thinking about having a go as our own team. How 'bout it?"

At that, the human grinned.

"You know, I've actually got some experience as far as ranked matches in CTF go..."

"Really?" Fox mused, "You guys have sims like that over in human space?"

"Sure do. I think we might do very well together."

"Got that right," Lombardi chuckled, "Hey O'Donnel, you in on this?"

The lupine smirked with a hint of teeth, "Looking forward to it."

They shared stories, talked about class, and joked with each other as the night wore on. Eventually the gang left Louie's and dispersed, waving goodbye to each other as they separated into the warm night. Logan walked with Miyu, the pair enjoying things back to normal between them.

"Hey..."

"Mm?"

"I'm sorry we left you alone like that."

Logan glanced at the Lynx, and could see the tomboy staring off into space, deep in thought.

"What brought this on?"

"You know dork."

"Oh?"

She sighed, and elbowed him lighter than she had before.

"You're one of us now, and you put yourself on the line for one of ours. We owe it to you."

"Is that so?" Logan asked softly.

The feline girl paused as they stood outside their cozy residence, and looked at him with those big eyes framed by her black stripe pattern in the dim night light. She took his hand in hers, and squeezed.

"_Thank you._"

Logan could only nod in response, and the warmth from her paw lingered as they went inside.

He was seized in a warm hug from Miyu's mother Catherine, who fret over him having been in the investigation, while her husband Kyle crossed his arms and chuckled, Abby tugging on his pant leg.

Logan looked around the modest Cornerian residence, feeling the warmth of the house and the smell of their cooking from earlier. Deep in his heart, the restless ache that had gripped him since Tribute loosened and fell away.

He was home.


	12. Ambient Wonder

**AN: **Thank you all again for your feedback and suggestions. As always, I'm open to questions or requests.

* * *

**Ambient Wonder**

* * *

**1400 Hours, Early Fall 17th, 1994 (Local Time) Corneria City, CDSS**

_BLUE TEAM HAS THE FLAG_

Miyu was sprinting across an open section of grassland, her breathing loud in the confines of her VR helmet, and the submachine gun held up as she pumped her legs.

A flurry of laser bolts impacted in the rock formation to her left, and the lynx rolled to cover in the recession of the riverbed.

She glanced at the minimap on her HUD, watching the red dot of an enemy contact veer off and engage one of her own pale yellow "friendly" contacts further off. Looking up to verify she could see a distant marker labeled 'F42' in that direction.

_So Falco was on overwatch, took him long enough..._ she thought with a roll of her eyes.

Rising, Miyu jogged through the shallows towards the opposing side of the map, hearing the furious exchange of laser fire and the more unusual staccato report of human weaponry. The rev of an engine made her long ears twitch, and she picked up the pace.

_Here we go._

There was a twisting of metal and a deafening bang as a Cornerian LAV skittered into view, just below the lip of some rocky outcrops overhanging the riverbed. The black smoke curling out of the rear of the hovercraft trying to regain stabilization was telling of the severity of that last rocket strike. 'S12' and 'F37' were blinking above the vehicle on her HUD.

The passenger hatch blew open, and Fay came bounding out with the brilliant Red banner of the opposing team held up triumphantly. The collie sprinted through the shallows as the LAV diverted back up to the grassy hills to draw enemy fire. Miyu idly thought that Slippy was doing surprisingly well with the vehicle, considering his rep as a screw up.

"Hey girl, get a move on!"

"Got it! The boys are doubling back with us!" Fay's rejoinder as she zipped by was amplified by the helmet's COM system, and hearing such on the team-wide net, Fox chimed in.

"Runners, head for the finish line. Falco, take care of the guy behind Slippy."

"Yeah yeah, I heard yah."

There was another clatter of human automatic weapons fire, and two kill reports scrolled across the lower right of the combatants HUDs.

_Logan351 killed Ferral_owo_

_Logan351 killed Spyr0_

"Base this is Logan," came the steady voice of the team's resident alien, "Five foot mobiles moving on runners position, over."

"Copy that," up on the blue team's outer defenses, Fox swung his rifle over the concrete bunker's lip to cover the incoming flag team. The Papetoon Armory Series IV "Sniper Rifle" was one of the deadlier weapons in the CDF's arsenal, and McCloud was no slouch when it came to sharpshooting with the crimson beams. The Cornerians had heard Logan mutter about "jackals" when he'd first seen the weapon.

"Hey Lo! Little help down here?"

Both of the Cornerian girls were taking cover as they crossed the last stretch, lasers impacting the shallow water around the rocks they crouched behind, throwing up steam and the scent of ozone. Miyu felt her heart hammering as she furiously debated making a run for the base with Fay. Bright red beams lanced out from McCloud's position towards the center of the map, but he wasn't able to provide them cover where they were. Peeking around the rim of her granite hiding spot, Miyu could see three of the enemy team advancing on them, two bulldogs leapfrogging from cover with their laser rifles trained on her and the rearmost husky pinning them down with his squad support gatling gun.

Then came the crack and clatter of an MA5C rifle once more.

Logan had doubled back in time to flank the anticipated enemy rush to reclaim their flag. From his position prone on a hillside he fired short, controlled bursts at the three accosting Fay and Miyu, and giving the runners a clear shot at the door to their base.

It was as Miyu splashed through the confusion with Fay lugging their captured flag, that she looked up briefly to throw a clever one liner at her roommate.

The look on his face killed that lighthearted comment dead.

A lot of people took the sims seriously, some wanted to emulate the hardcore specops types, others really got into the competitive nature of the leader boards... but Logan didn't look like he was scoring points. There was cold hatred in his eyes then, and for a moment Miyu felt a shiver go through her.

She felt suddenly ashamed that they had dragged him out to this match. He'd actually done this before for real, and who could imagine what the memory was doing to him?

* * *

This was the make-or-break moment. Only a few dozen seconds left on the timer, and Miyu and Fay were fast approaching their base with the enemy flag. Both Falco and Fox were providing cover. The lynx and the collie ran, their shapely legs pumping as they dashed the final few meters.

Then the bulk of the enemy team crested the hillside and began to pour laser fire towards them.

Falco was cursing, as he'd missed a great opportunity right when the enemy team had crossed the peak because he was busy saving Slippy from the anti-armor. Now the angle they were heading down the incline meant he had to compensate for speed and direction.

_Lombard69 killed Gr00t5_

"Still got it..." He mused with a smirk.

Fox was likewise attempting support fire, although a gatling gun would have been more useful. Sadly, he'd expended the last of that weapon's armor piercing rounds on an earlier LAV rush.

_FoxMC killed Davedave22_

Ducking to avoid a stray rocket, McCloud grit his teeth as masonry pinged off his helmet.

"O'Donnell, shut the door!" he barked with urgency, hearing the shouts and clatter of the enemy team streaming in behind the girls. Eyeing the timer, Fox held his breath as he could almost taste how close the girls were to scoring with the enemy flag.

Then there were a few screams, and a furious scuffle from the walkway under Fox's perch, followed by several kill reports with the 'melee' symbol next to them

_Wolf5 killed Bubs3_

_Wolf5 killed F3rr3T_

_Wolf5 killed Badger66_

_Wolf5 killed H6wk_

_Wolf5 killed sMegg88_

_FLAG CAPTURED_

_GAME OVER_

There was a blip, and the overall score updated with another point for Blue Team. The timer ran out as the cheers over the COM system were coming in, and Fox lay back against the concrete wall with a smile on his muzzle.

"Damn it Wolf, give me the goddamn shotgun if you're not even going to use it."

"Piss off human," came the lupine's wry reply.

"Smashing people into the walls how they teach you CQB in Lylat?"

"On Macbeth at least."

"We sure whupped those losers!" A shrill avian cry mocked the other team from across the map, "Keep sending that hatemail ya morons, I nevah even check my inbox!"

The world glowed for a moment, and then the surrounding landscape dissolved into a wire grid as the simulation ended.

Down in the CDSS computer lab, the Cornerians plus one Human were removing their VR headsets, shaking off the disorientation, and playfully jostling as they congratulated each other.

The sim league had been an exciting competition. Teams from among the student populace got together to compete in the virtual reality training system normally used for CDF lessons and maneuvers. CTF, or "capture the flag" was one of the most popular ones due to the strategic nature of securing an objective and alternating both offence and defense. Even the UNSC had similar exercises, though Logan's claim that the recreational side had invented something called "griffball" raised some eyebrows when he described it as _playing ball with a bomb_.

Fox hummed to himself as the motley group filed out of the room, hoisting backpacks again and preparing to head home soon. Like many times before he'd assumed the position of team leader, and he couldn't help but critique himself in the after-action like he was in front of his father again.

It was a tall order to live up to the mantle of the Star Fox mercenary team, but James McCloud was a patient and thorough teacher. Above all he'd cautioned Fox to look out for his teammate's well being and to understand their strengths and shortcomings.

It was surprising what even mock-combat could tell you about a person. Looking back, he noticed several points about his friends:

Falco would invariably stick to sharpshooting, very proud of his marksmanship but sometimes ignoring the objective in favor of racking up his score.

Slippy always did as he was told, but he tended to choke under pressure and worked better when he was cooperating with someone else.

Miyu was aggressive in seeking out close quarters battle, and favored hand-to-hand, although she bristled at being ordered around too much.

Fay ironically kept her chatter during firefights to a minimum, and tagged along with Miyu covering her back.

Wolf, now that guy was a real terror. There wasn't much else you could say about a guy that actually considered smashing someone's helmet into the wall a valid tactic, but he tended to favor ambushes and overwhelming the enemy before slipping away. Fox felt it had something to do with the unspoken history the lupine had regarding Macbeth.

Logan worried him.

McCloud couldn't help but frown slightly as he ruminated on the alien transfer student. It had been an eye-opening revelation when Jones had confided in the group the truth of what happened over in Human space, although much as they wanted to believe him it was hard to really understand what that kind of struggle really meant.

The way Logan fought said much more than he ever did.

Fox noticed that his father, and many other veterans in the CDF tended to have a certain disposition, especially when on the firing range. Their handling of their weapons was practiced, movement urgent, and overall behavior oddly calm under fire. Regarding Logan however, it felt really _abnormal_ seeing someone his own age with such a demeanor.

Logan tended to stick to any available cover he could, even if it meant prostrating himself in the dirt. He was constantly checking the skyline as if expecting a bombing run, and he never actually trash talked during the matches, or said much of anything outside radio procedure until the match was done. It wasn't unusual for people to take the VR fighting seriously for training purposes, but Logan had this look on his face when they were fighting as if he was looking at everything from very far away. A really haggard, hollow look in his eyes.

It creeped Fox out, to be honest.

He resolved to ask his father about it. Working with someone that had been through the wringer obviously needed to be handled carefully, he remembered that James had once lamented that the CDF didn't know how to handle their vets properly, that removing troops for at-risk behavior only separated them from their unit and further isolated them, leading to suicides. Admittedly Lylat didn't have too much conflict to produce as many vets affected by such things, but clearly the UNSC was a different story.

Maybe he would invite Logan over sometime to have a drink with him and his father. Things had been awkward since the incident with Pigma, and he was sure his father wanted to talk things out with the human.

Fox hefted his gear, and followed his friends out the door.

* * *

The sun had set, and the gang had congregated over at Falco's on the roof.

Wolf was hunched over a grill, the smell of stirfry filling the air as it sizzled under his careful paw. It had been explained to Logan once that Cornerians had some non-sentient creatures on their planet that they used for meat just like Humans did. Whatever it was, O'Donnell had added some bell peppers and chili spice from Macbeth, creating a wonderful aroma against the backdrop of music and conversation.

Falco had set up his stereo, playing some kind of local music that sounded a lot like old Earth "rock" that Jones heard some of the marines playing before. Silhouetted against the dying embers of the horizon and the inky night sky, Lombardi had an animated chat with Bill about hover cycles.

Logan was sitting with his back to a crate, with the others arrayed on a blanket they'd set out. The beer can was cold in his hands, and the taste of the lager was refreshing. The heat of the grill warded off the evening chill, and he couldn't help but choke on his drink and laugh as Fara finished her hilarious story about getting a customs official slapped by his wife for ogling her at a formal function.

"So what's the word on getting our paws on the flight sim room Foxy?" Katt's salacious behavior had only gotten worse as the night and drinks wore on. Currently she was teasing Falco as he tried to look unimpressed.

"This weekend, I figure it's time we pay back Jones for his help at the firing range. It certainly helped during our last ranked match." McCloud raised his can to the human who did likewise.

"Anytime."

"Aww, I left my optical chip back at my dad's," Slippy groaned, "Anybody got something else we can watch later?"

"Ooooh!" Miyu perked up and elbowed Logan's side, "I've got Star Trek on a chip in my bag, you've totally gotta check it out."

"Yeah?" The human quirked a brow at the feline.

"It's great, I always wanted to go kick tail with Captain Kirk all over the galaxy when I was a kitten."

"Sounds like a good show, I think it's cute how you've got some nerdy hobbies under that tough-girl look."

"I do not!"

"Oh yes you do."

Laughing, Jones kept Miyu back as she tried to brain him with a fist. By the grill, Fara was having a quiet conversation with Wolf, who looked oddly comfortable cooking there. With Fay telling another animated story to the group, it made for a nice evening.

The stirfry was doled out steaming onto paper plates, and for a few moments there was only the sound of eating from the varied species and some laughs as the slightly drunk teenagers noticed how funny they looked ravenously eating. More drink was passed around, and then Falco broke out a bottle of hard liquor and some shotglasses.

"Aight, everybody gather round an don't make me ask twice!"

Logan soon found himself side by side with Falco and Wolf, all of them in a circle as they raised their glasses filled with amber.

"Now I ain't a guy make a big deal a' things, but I just wanted to say I'm glad we're all here and for every one a' you I got your back. So, to stickin' with your crew, forever." The blue avian called out solemnly.

Katt smiled with something other than her usual saucy grin at Lombardi, and then lifted her own glass, "To being there for each other when times are tough."

Fox took his cue and spoke next, "Some of us have been friends longer than others, but you're all part of the team, and part of our family. To all the fights we've been through and all the fights to come."

Slippy lifted his glass to the same height as the others, "I promise I'll never let any of you down when you need me. To building a future with our own hands!"

Bill and Fay rubbed shoulders and raised their glasses together, "To all our friendships and all our love lives!" Cheers and chuckles followed.

Miyu winked at Logan and flicked her tail, "To all of you dorks, I wouldn't give you up for the whole world."

Fara stared into her shot, "To facing our futures together, whatever they may bring."

Next to her, Wolf had a somber look across his muzzle, "To protecting what's important to us."

Finally, Logan raised his glass. He paused for a moment, about to speak, and then tapped his glass on the top of a crate, "To the fallen."

As one, the group of varied teenagers from all walks of life knocked back their glasses, and gave a rowdy cheers. The burn of the spirit matched their own, as more than one blinked back sudden tears, though not unwelcome.

The night wore on, and they spoke and sang and shouted together. All at once the feelings of being young and just at the cusp of adulthood, coming into their own for the first time. It felt like there was so much hope in that frontier they called their future, and with each other by their side they could take on anything.

They eventually came inside, and amongst Falco's half-nude avian girl posters and general mess, arrayed themselves over the large couch, easy chair and cushions as sleeping bags and popcorn was broken out. The vidscreen blinked on, and after fiddling with the chip, Star Trek began to play. Jones thought it was interesting how the canines on the show were in some retro-futuristic getup with those yellow, blue and red suits.

As the alcohol haze began to wear off and sleep started to claim them, Logan looked around the dark living room to see the gang arrayed in a haphazard pile while the episodes quietly played out on the screen. Bill and Fay were cuddled up by one side, and amusingly Wolf and Fara had _somehow_ ended up beside each other as they leaned together amid the blankets. Falco's beak was hanging open, and Katt rested her head beneath it already deep in slumber. Blinking, Logan looked to his right and found Miyu curled up on his side, purring slightly in her sleep. He felt something in him melt, and let his arm drape over her shoulders as he settled back and closed his eyes amidst the warmth. Drifting to sleep as he heard the audio track still playing.

_Where no man has gone before..._

Beside the sleeping teenagers, inside Logan's backpack, his TACPAD screen flashed to life, and text began to scroll across it in a message unnoticed by the unaware dreamers.

**United Nations Space Command Priority Transmission**

**09872H-99**

**Encryption Code: **Red

**Public Key: **file/Truman-Doctrine-Matrix/

**From: **Fleet Admiral Lord Terrance Hood, Chief of Naval Operations, UNSC _Marathon_/ (UNSC Service Number: 07960-48392-TH)

**To: **/fwd/Jones, Logan (Civilian Identification Number: 10141-026-SRB4694)

**Subject: **WARNING ORDER

**Classification: **RESTRICTED (BGX Directive)

/start file/

As of 22:00 GMT the UNSC is formally at war with the Venomian Empire. All civilian attachés involved with diplomatic, scientific, and military liaison are required to familiarize themselves with evacuation procedure to the nearest UNSC military asset in-system: Battlegroup MYRMIDON via Cornerian Orbital Gate BT-X.

_Addendum_: assets involved with Op HELMS DEEP

Additional briefing and security codes to be issued via ONI prowler at 13:00 hrs 18th Local Time.


End file.
